Roaring
by Galecia
Summary: Prequel to "Upon Command". The glass he spied the world through had cracked, had fallen into that Void with him. It being no longer there to protect him, his mind followed suit, waning and ebbing with each new thought not his by nature. Theirs. Loki never believed he would survive, nor did he want to. Canon pairings. All Avengers and added surprise characters. Rated M for language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So due to request, here is the "prequel" to my other chapter fic. The prologue is word-for-word the piece from the other chapter in Upon Command when Thor approached the Avengers with Loki in tow. I'm adding it so you don't need to go searching for it in the other fic.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel. Wish I owned Loki, though.**

* * *

_Prologue_

"How drunk was I last night?" Stark was really worried he was seeing things, that he was going crazy. The crazy bit was that he hadn't immediately run for his Iron Man suit or told JARVIS to call in Fury, the Army and Navy and possibly Rhodey who had War Machine.

When was this fucking god going to stop trying to break into his tower?

The only reason, illogical as it was, Tony didn't do all of those things and much, much more was because Thor stood there with a hand out in plea.

"Man of Iron, I can explain."

"Do it quick because the Other Guy doesn't like this." Bruce Banner had dropped the glass of expensive scotch he'd been swirling, the liquid still rolling down the steps from the raised bar towards the couch. Tony could see the greenish hue to his ears and decided to step up and stop stuttering.

"Okay buddy, uh… can you tie him up outside?" His eyes roamed over the very real, non-hallucinated Loki fucking Odinson standing ramrod straight beside his brother in the middle of the lounge, in front of the window he smashed with Starks body. Tony was a little impressed Loki kept his cool glare on Thor and not the entire group of Avengers standing ready to defend themselves against attack. They were just about to leave to their respective rooms having finished a rather enjoyable dinner, the remnants of takeout containers still scattered on various surfaces. The team hadn't seen each other in two weeks, all having different missions to occupy them and Stark rebuilding his Malibu mansion after the attack by the Mandarin a few months prior. The general relaxed atmosphere was quickly charged with electricity - literally- as Thor and another man had shot from the sky only moments before, shocking them all.

Only their trust in Thor stopped them from shooting first and asking later.

Thor spoke in a language so beautiful and unfamiliar it must have been Norse, because two seconds later Loki vanished only to reappear, sitting Indian style, on the StarkPad.

"Good boy," Tony taunted loud enough he knew the trickster would hear.

No rejoinder came.

Natasha and Clint stood behind the couch, too uncomfortable to sit, both their eyes furiously trained on Loki's back. Tony was relieved it was pitch black outside, no stars or moon to shine behind the clouds, because it had only been a year since Loki attacked New York and no doubt some people might recognize him even without his war regalia.

Tony guessed calling him Reindeer Games wouldn't fit now. The god was dressed in a plain black shirt and pants, loose against his wiry frame and his sallow eyes seemed darker than they should be. His piercing glare was still unnerving. He must have felt Tony's eyes on his back for Loki turned his face sideways, and then looked away.

Thor's commanding voice had all their attention. "My brother has served his time on Asgard according to our laws. The Allfather has decided an exile on Midgard would further teach Loki about the misgivings he had of Earth. This is…" he tried searching for the word Jane had used, "Probation."

"They don't trust he'll behave in prison on Asgard?" Steve asked, arms tense and ready to punch Loki in the face. Tony recognized Steve's 'I want to deck him' face usually reserved for evil-doers. It made the billionaire a little proud.

None of them were prepared for the strong warrior, the god, to have a voice filled with so much emotional pain. "They do not want him." Thor raised his head, looking at a spot on the glass coffee table. "I could not leave him to suffer alone like before."

"Before?" Natasha finally peeled her eyes away from the god enough to stare hard at Thor.

"He fell from the Bifrost, into the Void, the Chitauri found him… they are evil creatures, and their evil infected my brother for too long a time."

"'Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that in your heart, you will know peace.'" Clint muttered, immediately getting Thor's attention but it was Natasha who asked, "Clint?" A hand on his arm gently.

"It's what he said, Loki," The name tasted sour on his tongue, "when he came through the Tesseract in SHIELD, he said it to Fury."

Thor nodded solemnly. "As Jane said, they 'brainwashed' my brother into believing something he would have not believed himself. He was never… cruel."

"They did to Loki what he did to Clint and Selvig?" Natasha outright asked.

"Yes."

"And daddy dearest knows this? So why isn't Loki living large in the palace?"

"Our father is of a stubborn mind. Loki committed crimes against the realms which cannot go unpunished. Exile is one of the more tame sentences that was entertained." He said it with such disgust none of them wanted to know what those 'other sentences' were.

Banner finally spoke up from behind them, having regained full control once he'd heard Thor's words. "So, why bring him here? Why not have keep with you in New Mexico?"

"The Allfather does not want war with Earth, and so only agreed to this exile under the conditions Loki be under the supervision of the warriors who defeated the Chitauri." And Loki; but that goes unsaid, for they are all aware said war criminal is sulking outside on the balcony within hearing distance. Thor was clearly choosing his words carefully. "We on Asgard were witness to the after-effects of the Chitauri's control. We saw enough to believe my brother was not himself during his madness."

The weight of his words hung heavy and no one spoke against them. The haunting look in Thor's eyes when he turned to see Loki still sitting on the balcony was enough to even shut Clint's harsh words out.

"We are asking for sanctuary. I," Thor turned to look at them all in turn, "am asking on behalf of Asgard for your help."

"You're part of this team, Thor," Steve sighed, "and our friend. Of course we will help."

"Uh, Cap are you forgetting this is my home I'm allowing you to live in?"

"I thought your home was in Malibu, you rebuilt it better than it was!"

"The lab isn't done so it's not really home."

"Tony-"

They fell into bickering, but Bruce clapped Thor on the shoulder and gave him a certain look that was clear; they were welcome to stay.

* * *

_Caged No Longer_

Loki was as familiar with the stars circling Midgard as any other realm. His eyes never left them for long, focused on their never waning beauty while trying to ignore the squabbling over his and Thor's situation drifting from the Tower behind him.

The stars never lost their beautiful luster no matter the eyes that beheld them, a value Loki found nowhere else. In all realms, the heavens and constellations were guides for the forsaken, not losing their beauty as they shone brightly in return.

Loki could not say the same for others who looked upon him in recent times. Every eye and stare directed to him, kind or not, held some sort of grudge or wish of ill-will. Loki could not bring himself to blame them- he had been the perpetrator of war, the criminal rising against his own household. Even if it had not been entirely his fault, he was still present and taking action against three separate realms came with consequence.

He felt a certain amount of guilt for what he had done, but apparently not enough for the All-father not to send him to Midgard with his oaf of a brother.

_**No, Thor is only doing his duty. This is not entirely his fault. **_Loki inhaled the dense night air and calmed his mind in time to hear said oaf approaching with a companion.

"Brother, friend Stark has agreed to let us take refuge here."

Loki looked at them from the corner of his eye before returning attention to the darkening sky and building lights of the city around them. Not much sound reached them up there, the dry summer evening blotting it out with heavy smog think enough to blur the car lights below.

"What of the others?"

Bruce did not dwell on the possible reasons the gods voice was not smooth and controlled like the last time he had been to Earth. It was cracked, the chords rusty as if speech had only been possible in the last few days. To answer his question, Bruce cleared his throat self-consciously. "We're fine with it, Loki. Your bother told us what we needed to know."

Acutely aware the rest of the Avengers were spectators to this conversation from the lounge room, Loki stood slowly and with one last glance over the edge to the hazy lights below, he turned to face Thor.

A long moment passed and he could see it in Thor's eyes. What this sanctuary would entail, what the Man of Iron's conditions really were. "I am to be caged again." Loki waited for the tell-tale twitch in Thor's face, the one that pulled at his mouth but it remained stone. _**It seems he has learnt something from me, if for better or worse, there's no telling**_. Loki equally schooled his features even though he was aware his voice had already given Banner what the scientist was waiting for, a show of weakness, a sign that Loki could not exercise any power even over himself.

Bruce wouldn't tell anyone Loki sounded frightened, or his eyes searched desperately to see a lie in his brother's too-honest face. Bruce shook his head, "Not a cage. A secure room. You'll be able to leave with supervision." He added, "It won't be for long." hoping it really wouldn't be. Even in Loki's company a few minutes, there was no overwhelming feeling of crazy Bruce remembered from a year ago. This man was different, freer even, despite the air of controlled rebellion hanging around him. Some of the innocence Thor often spoke of had returned to Loki's expressive eyes, making him look younger in the face of his sadness and reluctance to trust the Avengers.

Yes, the mistrust was evident in the way Loki would not make eye contact with the Dr. Jekel side of the green monster which had been his final downfall.

"I will do what you ask, Banner." Loki stiffly nodded as if to take lead into the Tower, but waited for Thor to turn and begin walking. Bruce could see that Clint and Natasha were missing from the group, and Pepper had joined them.

Thor beamed. "Lady Pepper, a pleasure as always."

Pepper grinned at Thor; she really had developed a soft spot for them all, especially for Thor and his Asgardian ways. "Thor, I'm glad to see you too."

Tony sighed dramatically, coming around the bar with a new scotch for Bruce and himself. After handing over Bruce's, Tony motioned for the brothers to follow. "I have your room ready and waiting, turn down service not offered."

Loki did not know what Stark meant, but had no choice to follow the man through the elegant halls towards the elevator. As they walked by the others, Loki couldn't help but notice how Steve was eyeing his unchained hands, Lady Pepper and Banner paying them no further mind and distancing themselves across the room to carry on a hushed conversation.

They descended down below the lobby, and that is when Thor became anxious, "Stark, a word of caution. Loki has been in solitary confinement for quite some time. I do not know if another secluded prison cell would benefit him." It was barely a whisper. Loki kept his eyes transfixed on the illuminated numbers above the doors counting down the floors.

"It's one of _my_ basements, Point Break. It will feel like home."

_**I don't have one anymore, a home. I never did.**_ Loki keeps himself from saying it, because Thor is giving him a wounded look like he had read his brothers mind. Thor understands how Loki had felt before falling into the comforting illusion of the Chitauri, how he never felt he belonged, a little late to realize but Loki cannot discount the fact that Thor has always cared and it was Loki whom ignored the brotherly affection.

Thor cannot argue on the point of not belonging in Asgard anymore. Not after hearing Odin's verdict on his once-son even after the evidence proved in some parts Loki was not of his own mind since the Void. Thor had taken it upon himself to vouch for Loki, volunteering in front of the entire Council and the court to go with Loki to Midgard. Odin believed he was there to delegate and convince the Avengers not to be cruel. Cruelty wasn't in their nature, exempting the Widow and Hawk, so that had never been Thor's worry.

Since birth, Thor's worry had always been Loki. The Mischeif God saw that in his brother's eyes once he had turned his back to Odin's throne and commanded the guards to unchain him.

The elevator dinged, doors smoothly opening to revel a short hallway with frosted glass at one end. Tony lead them, walked up to the glass and set his palm flat against an invisible panel. The glaze melted away into crystal clarity, thin window panes making up the entire wall. Beyond was a room with a large bed, a couch and what Loki remembered, a television set. There was a door to the rooms' left, which Tony was blabbering about was an en suite as he led them in.

"Oh, and since we don't want that mind of yours getting bored… bad things seem to happen when that happens," Tony fiddled with a remote he'd picked up off the immaculate bed. "Push this here green button, and that fake window lights up with whatever scene you want it to. Ask JARVIS for whatever outdoor things you're into. If you're a nice little god, he'll make up programs for you."

Loki fixed his eyes on the blank space of white plastered wall Stark had pointed to, going so far as to crossing to it, putting his fingers on it. Nothing happened.

Tony did not want to stay longer than necessary- yes he agreed to house Thor's oddball of a brother but that was it- he was not responsible for entertainment.

"Thor, buddy, does SHIELD know about your pop's plan to have us keep Loki?" Tony asked once they were outside the glass and Loki had finally given in and had taken up the remote, going through example scenes for the holographic window. Thor's hand was currently pressed against the window while JARVIS uploaded in the Asgardian's DNA signature. Tony, Thor and Bruce were the only authorized personnel to unlock Loki's "cage" for the time being.

"My father sent them word, yes."

"Yeah, okay, good."

"Stark," Thor said knowingly, "I realize this is much to ask, but there was no other choice. If Loki were to have stayed in Asgard and had I not brought him here… he would have been sent to Jotunheim or a worse fate."

"He looks less crazy, I can see it. Proof enough for me." Tony wasn't very convincing, either because Loki had just worked out how to use the remote to also turn the television on (it had taken Steve a week to figure that out universal remotes) or because this was a very bad idea.

A combination of the two seemed the more logical idea.

"_Thor Odinson's signature uploaded and calibrated, Sir."_ The accented JARVIS trilled, breaking both men's looks away from the god caged behind glass. Loki looked out of place, wearing the minimalist black leather and wool tunic belted at his waist, long hair hanging frantic around a blank, pale face. Among all the shining chrome and royal red bed-sheets, the richness of the Persian rug beneath his bare feet and the black leather couch Loki was now examining, Tony felt a pang of guilt.

Loki looked worse than when the Hulk smashed him into the floor, gaunt and haunted even with that intrigued quirk to his lips while he examined things in the room. No regality, no pomp of a title hanging around him, nothing. He looked just a man out of place, almost human.

On a whim, Tony hit the panel so that the glass became one-way, blocking them out and any words that would follow.

Loki hadn't noticed, so Tony made it quick. "Thor," His voice was oddly formal; none of the playful spirit Thor thought was ever-present. "What exactly happened to your brother?" Tony wasn't leaving until he got answers. He needed them, either to be alright with the situation or because he wouldn't be able to sleep that night unless he knew. Tony Stark knew the look of psychological trauma, no matter how well hidden it was, not even if the lie smith wanted to hide it.

Thor folded his arms across his chest, staring down at Tony, evaluating. "I am sorry Stark;_ I_ do not even know the extent of the damage the Chitauri dealt my brother. He did not return to himself easily."

"Not what I asked. What happened to Loki on _Asgard_? Because that in there is not the brother you knew from eons ago or however long you guys live. He may not be crazy mad anymore, but he's also not back to normal."

Thor glanced to his brother just as Tony removed the veil making the glass one-way, it became clear as air again. Loki still fiddled with the remote, but the god must have guessed something was wrong.

Thor met Loki's eyes, and Tony was momentarily stunned.

The younger god's eyes hungrily searched for something in Thor's, like a child looking for an awaited punishment.

* * *

He needed _rest_. For his tumultuous mind to shut off for a few hours and not replay the Allfathers damning words.

_**Which ones? There have been many.**_

Too many. As many as the buttons on Stark's remote control device, many more than Loki dared to count even though he had gone over them _all_.

Still it mattered not. His mind had left long ago, and only bits and pieces returned, in the wrong order, the wrong sequence and it was maddening. Memories were not in the correct order, they resurfaced at the wrong times, and Loki had no magic to suppress their hold on him or any emotions swelling up at their presence.

He felt like a child coming down from a tantrum and not remembering why he had been angry.

He knew, at some level why everything coalesced and how events played out from accounts from not only Thor, but Odin himself.

Loki remembered the void- oh how he wish he didn't- and the events previous that led him to letting go. _**Yes I was the one who let go. Thor did not release me. Thor… grieved. **_The words were as foreign in his mind as they would be on his tongue. Like acid they drenched his senses in the memories of loyalty and the courage it took not only for Thor to go against Odin's wishes but to demand his own in their stead. For Thor to demand exile and not the _other_ alternative had been a step in the right direction, it had caught Loki's in more ways than just surprise to hear Thor's words ring out in the packed halls of Asgard during his trial.

For the first time in a very long while, Thor protected him, and did not leave Loki to defend himself.

Loki had the urge to sit and think upon what to be done next, but the way to redemption was fickle, and he knew it would be long before he even forgave himself for being so weak. He and Thor were raised to be Warriors, strong princes of Asgard. In the wake of resentment and loneliness he had left his mind vulnerable to the Chitauri's persuasion, and had fallen prone to it so easily that at first he had thought it was his own idea to rule Asgard.

_**I never did want to rule. **_

His next steps were unclear, and so Loki resigned himself to sit upon the soft bed and wait. After all, he had been waiting a year to be cured of his madness, what was a few more to a god who lived thousands of years?

As Thor said, recovery would take time. Loki for once wanted to believe his eldest brother, _**yes, he is my brother, just not by blood. **_"He _is_ my brother."

Those words tasted of acid too.

* * *

"He needs a medical exam."

"That's exactly why I gave you clearance to be in there."

"I mean a real examination. Think Cassie would do it?"

"I think Cassie would run screaming from the room."

"Give her some credit, Tony. She's dealt with worse."

"Defending your girlfriend, Cap?"

"Boys, knock it off." The elevator doors opened and Natasha had come in, hair wet from a shower and clothed in jeans what Tony thought to be on of Clint's black sweaters. "I think Cassie can handle Loki, especially if Thor and Fury believe he's harmless now."

"Not harmless, domesticated." Tony pointed out on his way to call the Cassie Williams down from the floor of Stark Tower that housed the medical wing. Williams had been assigned specifically to the avengers when it was apparent they got injured on every mission they went on. Cassie stayed at the tower some nights, it just so happened that on the night Thor brought his vagrant little brother Cassie hadn't left for the weekend yet.

"Hey, JARVIS, inform the doc that she's needed and to stay here tonight." Tony headed for the elevator and grabbed the rest of them on the way. While descending, JARVIS replied with a direct connection to the medical R&D floor.

Her voice had a southern lilt, having grown up in Alabama, but New York life had been weeding it out slowly over the years. It rang through the elevator compartment, and Tony caught the Cap's small smile. "_Stark, if you ripped your stitches again so help me God. What's the problem?_"

"We have a patient for you. I'll send Rogers and Banner up to explain."

They all heard her sigh, but pleasantly reply, "_Okay, what are the patients injuries_?"

Thor had been quiet since then, going along with what Stark was planning. Thor trusted his friends, and they seemed expert in the realm of Midgardian medicine. Thor did not want to discuss the fact no one on Asgard had thought to check a war criminal for injuries- and Thor could not help but be grateful that his friends had thought of it. The mercy of humans always baffled Thor, and he preferred to think that perhaps Asgard could learn much from them.

"We actually don't know." Stark happily informed her, and exited the elevator with Thor and Natasha while Bruce and Steve remained, heading back up. The doors closed, cutting off Bruce's voice talking to Cassie.

Natasha stayed standing near the elevator, her gun concealed in the back of her jeans under the heavy sweater. Tony changed the glass separating the hall from Loki's room from frosted to clear, and let Thor do the speaking once they were in the room.

* * *

Loki hadn't looked up, but then again there was no need. He had sensed Thor's presence as soon as he had gotten off the elevator. "Loki."

"Thor. Are you going to check on me every hour now?"

Tony averted his gaze when Loki looked to him; looking for the reason he had accompanied his brother. When it seemed he could not figure it out, Loki gestured for Thor to ask what he wanted.

"There is a Midgardian physician who wants to check you for injuries."

"All my injuries have healed by now, I assure you."

_**That was way too fast, Rudolph. **_Fast enough for Tony's eyes to narrow in suspicion, but Loki paid him no mind, his gaze locked with Thor's as if to challenge him to call Loki on his lie. That was what caught Tony off guard, not that Loki was lying but that _he could tell it was a lie._

Tony looked to Thor to see is he had caught it, and by the look on the thunder gods face he had. Then again, they had grown up together so it wasn't so surprising Thor could sense such a weak falsehood.

"Loki, it is for SHIELDs assurance. They mean you no harm."

Now Thor was lying, and both Tony and Loki knew SHIELD didn't care if Loki was injured.

It spoke volumes to Tony that Loki did not scowl or begin a tirade like he would have a year ago. Instead, Loki stood from where he'd been sitting on the bed, and without making eye contact righted his clothing to wait patiently for Thor to lead the way.

She had to sit down before she fell to the floor. "Excuse me?" Cassie asked for the second time and still receiving impish grins at her reaction, she reiterated with a forceful tone, "You're telling me Loki, the guy who not a year ago destroyed half of the city, is in Stark's basement and is on his way up to be examined?"

Bruce tried not to outright laugh at her affronted reaction as if they'd presented her a dead rat. "Yes."

Steve closed his eyes for a brief moment, taking the chair beside Cassie. "We'll be in the next room. Thor will be _in the room_. Loki won't hurt you."

Cassie shot out of her chair, "Getting hurt is not my worry, Rogers. I am worried that he's going to go tyrannical again and kill more people!" She stared at her bag for a minute, cursing herself that had she left early like she'd meant to, taking her work home that night, she wouldn't be about to face the god of lies from another planet.

No, she just had to pull extra hours. "Fine."

There was no way she could get out of it anyway. If Loki was staying in Stark Tower, she had to make sure he checked out. Not only to keep her job and Fury happy, but to make sure Loki posed no threat to the Avengers. She wanted to delay their injuries and her workload as much as possible. Perhaps having another powerful god on Earth's side would do some good.

"How bad is he hurt?" Cassie tied her hair up in a ponytail and began prepping the examination room off the side of one of the glassed-in labs. She began stock piling bandages and antiseptic wipes expecting physical injury.

"Nothing we can see, there might be internal injuries. Something tells me Asgard wasn't kind to him. Thor tells us he isn't exactly wanted. "

Perhaps it wasn't only physical wounds she would be treating. Cassie blinked away the uncertain feeling coiling in her gut. "Wasn't that the reason he went against everyone? Because they weren't kind?" The last part was whispered, as if saying them aloud would summon the god who had been tuned into unkind words since childhood. If they went by what Thor recounted, there was too much damage a group of heroes and their doctor would cure.

Steve whistled his agreement, and got Bruce to help him start up the MRI and x-ray machines while Cassie went to grab one of the white gowns from the supply closet and a box of gloves.

Just as Cassie and Bruce were discussing Jotun anatomy, the elevator door beeped and opened, with Loki the last to get off.

Cassie put on her bravest face and offered him a small smile, hoping her face didn't betray the sad regret she suddenly felt for Loki's situation. "Loki, it's nice to meet you. Would you follow me?" She glanced at Thor and he nodded, also walking with them to the examination room and closing the door.

Steve sat on a stool, not even pretending he understood half the instruments Bruce began inspecting on a lab bench behind him.

The elevator beeped, announcing Clint's entry to the floor. "Fury says we have full responsibility for Thor's brother. He's our burden and all of that." Grabbing what looked like a steel clamp and tossing it back on the table, the archer took a seat beside Steve only to realize the gods we nowhere to be found. "Where's dumb and dumber?"

Tony gestured to the closed door on the other side of the room. "With Cassie, must be going well for it to be so quiet."

No sooner had the words met air did they hear something clang against the inner wall of the exam room and the door open to admit a swiftly walking Cassie hardly keeping a grin from her face.

She skidded into the room and turned in time to see Thor follow, shutting the door on something else hitting it from the other side.

"You jinx everything, Tony." Clint couldn't say it surprised him, it was only a matter of time before Thor's little brother toppled the tower of sanity he seemed to have been holding onto like one would a distant friend.

Steve had stood up when he saw Cassie flee the room. "You alright?" His eyes travelled between Thor and the doctor.

Cassie let herself smile. "Fine, yes. He didn't like me listening to his heart." She was holding a broken stethoscope. "He also flung a bedpan."

Thor obviously didn't understand why everyone chuckled at that; his only concern was Loki being upset. "He does not like his personal space invaded." Was his explanation and even his scowl showed Loki's childlike reaction was not to be permitted. "I will speak with him. He shall apologize." With those famous last words, Thor re-entered the room.

The gathered heroes listened to silence, and then some shouting in a language that must have been Norse.

Tony walked over to the elevator. "I have an idea. Give me a sec." and left.

"He's not coming back." Natasha answered Clint's unspoken question.

"I wouldn't either," Cassie took a seat beside Steve to wait for the arguing brothers to cease. However long that would take.

* * *

"May I?" Pepper knocked on the door, one hand holding a tray with coffee and muffins, the smells drifting in ahead. After getting a confirming nod, she came in and set the tray on Cassie's desk. "Bruce said you've been up here all night."

It was clear Bruce hadn't been exaggerating. The doctor's usually kempt hair had strands falling into her face from the ponytail and her makeup smudged a bit in the corner of her eye. Not only did Pepper notice she looked ragged but unhappy. Cassie was no stranger to staying up all night and day and working at the Tower and for SHIELD so for the girl to look so beaten concerned Pepper.

Cassie saw that in the woman's face and said outright, "We should have given up insisting Loki let us scan him." She shifted over so Pepper could bend down and look at the screen displaying a variety of x-ray images. Even one not knowledgeable in medicine could see that Loki's bones were severely damaged, most places cracked or healed incorrect after improper treatment. Pepper could not put to words what it made her think, the tortures Loki's own people had put him through, and she had to remember not all of them came from Asgard, but the Chitauri.

Pepper gave Cassie a sad smile, straightening up and checking her watch. "I may not be able to heal him like you could, and of course you'll be getting right on that, but he needs to feel safe here and I think there's been enough of Loki being locked in cages."

Pepper took her coffee off the tray and walked out but not before telling the doctor to go home and sleep, "You've done more than enough tonight."

Cassie shut down her computer, laying her head on the desk and closing her eyes to the morning sunlight coming in through the tinted windows. She did not know where to begin healing Loki, and she did not know if telling Thor would benefit or hinder progress made on Loki's part.

It was clear that the haunted look in Thor's eyes did not come from knowing what physical pain had brought Loki to surrender under the Chitauri but the mental anguish of knowing how he had played a part in this.

Cassie did not want to get in the middle of any of it.

She began hoping Pepper was not foolish in thinking she could make the god feel safe when for the past years all he had felt was betrayal and pain.

* * *

**A/N: Let me know what you think! G. **

**Updates will be (I promise I have half this story written already) every Friday afternoon/night.**


	2. Similarities

**A/N: So this story IS Loki and Thor centric, but it's also about how the Avengers handle having the god of mischief among them. Viewpoints will shift.**

**Disclaimer: I will never own Marvel. I only have some of the comics.**

* * *

_Similarities_

_Her face was the same unassailable mask that he had found her fighting skills to be- determined but not solely hers. Clint continued to watch the woman Director Fury referred to as Black Widow be escorted to a holding cell by some stone faced agent._

_She was compact although her personality was distinct and too big for her body, the face of impassion was a well disguise if anyone except Clint was looking at her. He had seen her true face, one of pragmatic sadness so overwhelmed by what had happened that he had caught her off guard in that alley, and as unlikely Clint second-guessed his orders from SHIELD to take the girl out._

_He decided not to fire._

_Beginning to think it was a mistake- that there was no trace of that woman he had found in the alley and that redheaded girl been replaced by hard copy of something he didn't think was human- Clint felt something brush his shoulder._

_Agent Coulson had sidled up to him in the corner of the hall, just in time to see the stone faced agent close the cell door on Black Widow. She had not looked up, her waves of red hair curtaining her face like a window which looked out to nothing._

_Coulson sighed lightly, maybe waiting for Clint to say something, the man didn't know. Eventually once other agents began passing them by and it seemed Barton was not moving his eyes away from the steel door across the hall, Coulson spoke, "You disobeyed direct orders. Any reason?" _

_What Barton admired about Coulson was his light demeanor, the way his words were soft but could not be mistaken for weakness. Being Clint's handler this reflected badly on Coulson too. _

_Clint knew his reasons wouldn't matter in the end- SHIELD was the deciding force. "I made a different call."_

_Phil flipped open a folder, and from what Clint saw it was on Black Widow with statements he had made to Fury on why he arrived at the drop location with the target meant to be in a body bag. "Yes, why?"_

_"She's a kid, Coulson. What is she, seventeen? Eighteen? Do we even know? She deserves the same second chance we all get." Clint tried pushing past, half out of annoyance that Coulson kept looking at him expectantly and half because it had been a long flight back from Moscow and he had no illusions that his clothes reeked. _

_Phil put a hand on his arm, sidestepping him into an empty office devoid of any furniture, just he glaring fluorescent lights and gray carpet that seemed to cover every inch of Headquarters. _

_"What did you see in that alley, Barton? She doesn't look like a scared kid to me."_

**No, she looks deadly. **

His eyes opened quickly, heavy breathing he barely recognized as his own echoed lightly through the room as he became fully aware where he had fallen asleep. In the arms of the deadliest woman he had ever known, who at that moment was turned away from him on her side, sheets up to her shoulders and sleeping rather soundly.

Clint Barton got up slow, keeping in mind that the last time he had startled her awake she almost took the lamp out with a knife produced from under her pillow.

That had been a long time ago, almost as long ago as the events in his dream.

**_I haven't thought about that night for years. Why now?_**

Shoving his feet into his sneakers and grabbing the sweater hanging off the desk chair, Clint went into the hall of their floor. Stark had given them separate bedrooms on the same floor, a waste, when they usually slept in the same bed when they could afford it.

It took Clint the walk down to the kitchen to remember why he and Natasha were both at the Tower and the events of the previous night.

**_Loki._**

Thinking about the guy still gave Clint an instant headache in the wake of his stomach dropping to the floor. Luckily the only one awake that early in the morning was Tony's girlfriend and CEO of Stark Industries, Pepper Potts. Clint always found her at the island counter with a coffee this time of the morning, but today she was nowhere to be found.

Ignoring how odd that was, because the woman was never late and rarely took sick or vacation days, he continued to the fridge.

His exhaustion hadn't begun to be scared away by the rising sun before he heard Thor come in behind him before seeing the god. As always, Thor's habit of announcing himself by _being_ himself meant there could be no surprises. Unless he was determined to sneak up on you, in that regard Thor could best Natasha at times.

"Friend Barton,"

**_Something's wrong, _**Clint thought before turning to see that indeed, Thor did not look his usual jovial self and it perfectly matched the dead tone he had spoken with. "Mornin' buddy." The archer said carefully, afraid that the listless way Thor sat at the kitchen table dressed in only his plain shirt and pants that could soon change like a hormonal teenager.

Clint was saved from asking what had Thor's princess hair in a knot as the elevator doors opened again to deliver hell frozen over- Tony and Pepper in the middle of a whispered fight.

"No," Tony shrugged and came in, not even saying good morning on his way up the staircase to the penthouse above.

Pepper swore for the first time Clint had ever heard.

"Something wrong in paradise, Miss Potts?" Clint retrieved her favourite mug from the cupboard in a show of apology and camaraderie, for he felt bad that Tony's strong opinions on whatever they'd been discussing had put that blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. Pepper disliked fighting in front of other people; apparently she had expected no one to be up so early.

"Thank you Clint," Pepper took a sip of the coffee he had poured in her cup before recounting the spat. "I was trying to get Tony to put Loki in a more comfortable room. I do not like the idea of locking him up, it was made very clear he is not a criminal and treating him like something he is not won't help matters."

Clint looked to Thor, "That why you have puppy eyes?"

"My eyes do not resemble a hound's, Barton. I spoke to my brother this morning but not about his arrangements. He is not sleeping."

Pepper turned in her seat to stare at Thor, as if he were her child and her concern was obviously overwhelming for Thor to consider. Clint even had to turn away on the pretense of making breakfast for them- only to notice he had left the fridge open.

"He isn't sleeping at all?"

Thor cleared his throat. "His mind is in an upheaval, it seems. I know my brother, and if this continues I am afraid he will lose the little he has gained of himself."

**_Great, crazy is going to get crazier. _**"Get Cassie to sedate him." **_When was it a good time to run your mouth? _**Clint sighed and turned not to see what he had expected, two sets of eyes looking disappointed he would suggest drugging Loki, but Pepper had a small smile behind her coffee mug and Thor seemed to be considering it.

The absence of people telling him to shut up because he hated Loki and his opinions weren't needed began upsetting Clint's understanding of the situation. He stumbled over what to say in the silence, "What?"

"It would take much to put my brother to sleep, he is physically healthy-"

Pepper held a hand up, "Actually, Thor, we need to talk about that."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "So my idea might work? Well, if only Nat was here to see _this_."

"I would speak to my brother again, and if I cannot convince him of this, we must act without his consent."

Clint lost his winning smile slowly and then all at once as the repercussions of what Thor was actually saying hit him. Loki was damaged even beyond letting himself fall asleep, whether it be out of fear or the inability to calm his mind, Clint could understand.

He had been under that same control, and the length of time that had been did not compare to the god of mischiefs duration or severity.

Loki knew what he had done, and for him to be unable to sleep meant regret. **_I'm feeling bad for this guy? Maybe I'm the crazy one. _**On the other hand, it could mean he was up scheming.

Just as Thor was getting up to go speak with his brother, Clint did something he would later be grateful for. "Hold on, Thor. It was my idea, I'll come with you. If Loki can blame anyone for thinking of drugging him, let it fall on me."

**_I need to face him at some point._**

* * *

The conversation didn't last long, mere minutes. It seemed in Loki's exhaustion he was adept at picking the exact words to arm Thor with rage not kindness, and so Clint got the thunder god away from his brother pretty quick.

A defensive mechanism is what Clint had been thinking. How long had it taken Loki to get skilled at hitting all the pressure points on his brother in times of stress for him to be that good at it? Hundreds of years according to Thor. "Loki has lashed out like such before, when he was injured on the battlefield during a skirmish. I was told he became fearsome and murdered many, including innocents."

Clint had brought Thor, Bruce and Tony to the lounge, Cassie one among them. "You were told? By who?"

**_By someone who had been paying attention?_**

Thor made no excuses, had stopped doing that for himself and Loki long ago. "One of the surviving guards. I was foolish enough to believe Loki could care for himself in battle. We were but children at the time."

"So you dragged your little brother into a war?" The thought to Tony was outlandish and incomprehensible and those feelings coloured his tone.

"He volunteered to fight by my side."

Clint spoke up for the first time since their gathering. "Wonder why he would do that?" It was a rhetorical question- they all knew, especially the god. Loki had worshipped him when they were children and Thor had taken advantage of it.

It was not the case then, so they would need a different tactic to coerce Loki into taking a cat nap. Clint's eyes roamed towards Natasha, remembering many times when it only took her a few words to talk him into anything.

It was worth a shot if Loki had someone from home that could do the same for him as Nat regularly did for Clint. "Thor, does Loki have a… or had a…significant other?" Clint didn't want to assume anything, but Thor and Loki were at least a thousand years old, young adults in Asgard's standards. There must have been someone other than Thor and the Warrior's Three who held Loki's hard won friendship.

Perhaps not, though, for Loki to have gone so wayward, maybe there hadn't been anyone to confide or seek friendship in.

Thor's bright eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and his face fell. "There was one; I doubt she would aid Loki now."

"Would this girl's name be Sigyn?" Pepper piped up from the lounge entrance, coming from the short hallway leading to her and Tony's private suite. She stood with her arms crossed; having heard their talk since they'd began. Clint suspected Pepper had been busy doing paperwork for Stark Industries in her office and JARVIS informed her they we're coming up the elevator.

Pepper took a seat beside Tony while Thor confirmed, "Yes, how do you know her?"

Clint rolled his eyes, "We do have books, you gods are mentioned a lot in Norse mythology. Haven't heard of this Sigyn, though."

"Sigyn was a dear friend. She had stumbled upon Loki in his travels to Alfheim. She saved my brother, and as a reward the Allfather gave her a home in the palace for she had no family."

"Saved him from what?" Clint apparently was the only one not familiar with any of the Norse legends, for even Tony had come to realize what Thor said next.

"He had been found by bandits, who knew he was prince, so tied him to a serpent's tree. The snake dripped poison into Loki's eyes until Sigyn found him. She slayed the snake and brought Loki back to Asgard, he was blind until tended to by our healers."

Cassie broke the silence with an unsure voice, "Sounds like a nice girl,"

Thor did not beam as he usually would, "She is the likeliest person who could reason with Loki."

"I sense you have a problem with telling her." Bruce positioned himself on the other side of Thor on the leather couch. "Is she one of the people on Asgard who had no problem casting him out?"

"She still believes Loki dead from his fall from the Bifrost."

"Thor that was two years ago, how can she still not know?"

"She left before Loki fell, and when I brought her the news we agreed never to speak again and I cannot blame her. She has never returned to Asgard I think because it pains her to remember."

Clint suspected there was something Thor wasn't telling them. They'd known him for long enough to tell.

Tony threw c=Clint one of his trademark 'I don't like this' looks before flipping the switch and saying, "Hopefully she'll come to Earth, then. It's sounding like a better idea the more I think about it, Point Break. Clint's right; Loki might listen to her cause she's saved his ass before."

"I hope you are right, Stark."

* * *

"So what can we expect? I can't imagine any friend of Loki's wouldn't be hostile towards us." Steve said as he and Thor stood side by side on Stark's balcony. Clint remained nearby but decided to keep distance with Natasha and Pepper. After Thor had shouted to the sky for half an hour, Heimdall replied and Thor told his friends Sigyn would be arriving any moment.

"I do not believe Sigyn would be hostile to you, Steven. I am the one who has kept the truth from her, she will have quarrel with me."

Clint couldn't help noticing Thor looked apprehensive at his own words. Before anyone could comment –and Tony looked like he had something to say- the balcony was struck with a blinding golden light concentrated in front of Thor, and once it had been extinguished stood a raven haired woman wearing golden dress and dark robes the colour of aged tree bark.

"Sigyn,"

She did not speak at first as her deep eyes roamed the collected group. "It is nice to make your acquaintance, Midgardian heroes." As soon as her eyes hit Thor, they turned fiery as if a volcano erupted behind their glassy surface. "Thor Odinson, Heimdall has explained already why you request my presence. Is it truth?"

Clint could see that Sigyn hoped it was lies and Thor tricked her into coming for other reasons.

"It is, Sigyn. Loki lives, he is in this tower as we speak."

Something fell from her expression and escaped in a small sigh, her eyes now taking in the sight around her of New York. Any other visitor would have been entranced with the view, but not her.

Clint understood why. If all Thor had said about her and Loki's relationship, Sigyn just found out what she had hoped all along, that Loki had survived. There had been hope and now she allowed herself to truly feel it.

Sigyn didn't break eye contact with Thor. "Tell me all, and do not leave a single thing secret. Your brother is not the only one who can weed out your lies, Odinson."

No one had spoken with such wrath to Thor that still lived, Clint was sure. Thor looked cowed under Sigyn's glaring, dismissing his friends to speak privately.

Clint sat around in the kitchen, watching the two gods pace the terrace and every so often Sigyn would erupt in shouting and Thor would explain faster.

By the end, the Avengers got a taste for what Frigga was most like to her son. It seemed Sigyn had as much respect from Thor, for he not once got out of hand with their arguing. Tony even kept is smart-ass remarks to himself when they came inside and Thor properly introduced them.

Sigyn accepted a glass of water from Pepper when it looked she had grown pale in the wake of what Thor had told her of what had happened in her absence.

"Lady Sigyn, you are welcome here as long as you like." Pepper offered, and Clint almost spit his pop out of his mouth when Tony's didn't make a single sound in protest.

A powerful woman indeed to render Tony speechless. Then again, Clint didn't think he would have said a word in protest either. Sigyn regarded them all with a thankful smile before speaking, handing the water glass back to Pepper.

"Thank you for your kindness, but before I decide to take you up on it, I would like to speak with Loki."

Thor stood, having regained some of his composure now Sigyn wasn't at his throat anymore and would soon be at Loki's. "I will escort you."

* * *

**A/N: Okay sorry that wasn't posted yesterday, it was finished but I had forgotten.**

**I hope you enjoyed, reviews are my muse for writing Sigyn! G.**


	3. Secrets

**A/N: I'm trying to keep the chapters long enough to get the story moving along but not so long as you need a break in the middle.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Marvel.**

* * *

_Secrets_

There was no dictation in his being Loki could find which had wanted to hurt Thor. That is what kept him awake, the intense rage and betrayal he had felt before falling from the Bifrost. Before his one true moment of clarity when the Chitauri had realized they'd lost for the moment, they performed their greatest torture- releasing their prisoner for a scant few minutes of sane thought.

It had driven Loki to let go- _the things he had done_. No one could forgive, not a brother, not a father or mother or any other being could have helped him even forgive himself.

In was in the middle of these damning memories he heard Stark's automated servant announce a visitor.

"Inform my oaf of a brother I will not-"

The door began opening, and Loki prepared to hurl obscenities at his brother for interrupting him so carelessly as he had just been collecting his thoughts after their fight.

All presence of mind evaporated when the visitor closed the door behind them, standing straight and expectant before Loki. She had paler skin than he remembered; her dress spoke of her homeland and not of Asgard. She held no spite in her face or any ill-will as he would have expected when their paths crossed once again.

How Sigyn looked with stars reflected in her eyes and the night sky reflecting on her skin, patches of starlight on her dress as they laid under the canopy of trees was the only memory Loki had of her that was not corrupt. The only vision of her that hadn't been tainted with hate and regret by the Chitauri and his own lies did not compare to the real things. The mist of tainted memories evaporated and suddenly he remembered her as clear as she was now presented.

Seeing her then, Loki understood why men of old had liken her to Valkyrie come to take them to Valhalla, to a place of peace amidst inner wars, it almost brought the god to his knees. Loki had not seen her since they were very young in the halls of Asgard before her engagement.

Her hair still held that dull black luster, long as her torso and kept aside with a clasp of small ethereal flowers. Her eyes as they looked on him did not hold any contempt or pity, rather a surprise that was held in the small O of her mouth before she spoke aloud, seemingly having to take courage to do so. "Loki, you shake as though I am here to slay you."

"Is that not your purpose? Your very presence has me doubting whether I still live as we speak." He hoped his voice didn't convey the weakness he felt standing there up against her innate strength, if she had been in his position she would not have fallen victim to the Chitauri. He knew she would have taken her own life rather than hope to survive and have caused so much destruction.

She averted her eyes for a moment but the full force of their gaze were soon back on him, "You will not live for long if what Thor says is true."

**_So she came for Thor_**. Loki knew it was not what he expected, he knew she had no feelings for his brother and that through it all they were good friends, but still he couldn't take the bite from his tone. "Ah, that is why you've come? At the behest of my dear brother. How far have you travelled for the wishes of a prince?"

"Loki." It was said distantly as if the story was still being told, "I know," the one of his dissent from Asgard and his failed subjugation of Midgard. Sigyn said it as if none of that mattered, and only his reply was holding her there, that his words were the only things that could send her away.

Sigyn had not changed. She had grown up in their years apart into a marvel of good features and grand presence that rivaled Queen Frigga with its magnanimity. Sigyn could fell warriors with a look, and also encourage them with the smallest breath to continue fighting.

Loki had missed that. Having a rival to his wit and mischief, an equal in the ways of magic and subterfuge he had found in no other.

He had missed her, and that was frightening after growing used to relying on no one, not becoming sentimental. In the calming presence after his heart had stopped trying to escape from his chest as the sight of a lost ally, Loki felt truly at ease until the consequence of Sigyn knowing his crimes fully bloomed in his mind.

How could she look at him with such openness after knowing his crimes?

**_She looks at me no different than when we were children. She had changed little, how am I to compare?_** He didn't recognize himself in the mirror, but in her reflection he had grasped some of his old self if only in the first seconds before memories began resurfacing.

Sigyn waited patiently for him to speak again, watched him pace the room for a time as she sat on the leather couch beneath the flat screen television mounted to the wall.

She sensed Thor waiting not as patiently behind the glass wall she'd come through. Sending a calming wave of energy towards Thor, Sigyn tried gaining eye-contact with Loki but the god was stubbornly watching the floor as he wandered.

Wandering always did quiet his mind- it was to blame for his sleepless nights, and her reason for appearing.

She would give him time.

Perhaps new clothing. She did like his ensemble, plain black shirt and pants with green hems and angular cuts, matching his longer hair. Sigyn was not used to seeing Loki in disarray, attributing it to his new state of mind.

It was concerning. "When I got word you were alive, nothing compared to that feeling."

"I have not lost the ability to know when you lie."

"No, you haven't. Shall I describe what it was like to listen to your brother recount what you had done? Sadness so deep I thought my chest had been carved from my body. For your mind to be open to influence like that, there must have been doubt of our love. There must have been doubt the Allfather and Queen Frigga loved you dearly. We were friends, and I am ashamed to have forgotten that. I am ashamed I failed you. Now tell me if I lie." By that point Sigyn had knelt beside the couch where Loki had paused in his steps. All Sigyn could see was his back, the curve of his shoulders and feel the ice radiating off of him like he was a distant star unable to warm the sky around himself.

"Stand."

She did so, knowing full well his intention was to sound commanding. He was still a prince of Asgard, and she his subject no matter how far removed. Sigyn had a duty to him as Loki of Asgard, son of the Allfather.

Loki turned to her, face a mask of indifference and good manners not to throw a guest out of the room. She misunderstood him, as it seemed she always would.

His emotions were not hidden, but in plain view. It came through his words, as all things Loki did had before. The Silvertongue, the Liesmith, and still apparently her dear friend. "You mistake my ire for contempt, Sigyn."

"So you do remember my name after all these years, or does it bring you pain to utter it now?"

He had flinched at her name, as if it burned his lips on the way out. It burned her ears to hear it without the care he used to call her name with. Her name was nothing to him but a distant memory.

For the first time in her long life, Sigyn began regretting her decisions. Should she have not come? Perhaps Thor would have broken through Loki's defenses after a while, or perhaps not. If what she saw held true, and her gut feelings were hardly misleading, it had been the right decision to go to him.

The two didn't speak for an eternity, but in reality only mere seconds. It had been almost half a century since they'd spoken, so those seconds after holding what conversation that had been was gut-wrenching.

"Loki-"

"What are you waiting for? You have my permission to leave." He walked over to a section of wall without the decoration of pictures, where once he touched his hand to it lit up with a plain grassy field as if spying it from a window.

Sigyn turned defiant. There was a limit to her obedience, and he had found it. "I will not."

"And why is that? You've fulfilled your duty to Thor and to me. You're not needed, you never were. You made your choice, now return to your husband."

Stunned silence and for a split second Sigyn thought she saw something like regret flash in Loki's eyes, whether for his words or their past it was elusive and fleeting. No matter the feelings, she knew the crux of his annoyance.

"That was a marriage of politics- you mattered more."

Loki straightened, back a rod of steel and fists tightly choking the air at his sides. "Yet you chose to stay away nonetheless."

"You were and are a prince. I had no right to stake a claim."

"You had every right! Had I no choice, then? Sigyn- you…"

"I know."

A bit of his old self tore through, and his words echoed the last ones she had heard leaving Asgard for Alfheim. "You certainly don't."

"Maybe not where our affections for each other stand, but I do know if you do not take better care of yourself you will die. That is something I know I cannot live with."

"If I wanted I couldn't rest. There is too much to remember."

A few minutes of silence lapsed while Sigyn walked along a row of books on a shelf nailed to the wall at hip level, most were Midgardian texts. She picked one at random, seeing it a compiled work of poetry from some human laureate. Sigyn picked a rather long poem after flipping through it, "How about I read like when we were children? That always put you to sleep."

"For you were horrid at it. You have only one tone of voice." It was mock annoyance, and it did not fool either of them, for she had turned to find Loki sitting on the bed with legs crossed, not quite anticipatory but expectant.

Sigyn joined him, gathering her dress about her knees and climbing to sit beside with the open book. "It seems my voice has found purpose at last." Her smirk and sideways glance only riled Loki more, and Sigyn has the distinct memory of sitting in a corner hall of the palace with Loki getting angry she wasn't doing the voices right and he had to take over.

"Settle, Loki. This will only work if you let it."

"Read, then."

* * *

Clint wasn't interested in Sigyn how he'd expected on first seeing her on the roof. She was beautiful, yes, but there was something about her that warded him off from cultivating romantic feelings. It was clear there was something between her and Loki, Clint just didn't understand what. Thor had come back up to the kitchen after showing Sigyn to the lower levels.

"I hope they're not breaking any of my stuff," Tony half-teased, overseeing the coffee brewing while Natasha woke everyone by handing out SHIELD documents on their new responsibilities as Loki's handlers. Clint began thinking Thor hadn't heard Tony and after a few minutes of what looked like careful deliberation, the god addressed them. "Sigyn is reading to him."

Clint almost spat his pop out for the second time that day. It wasn't even noon yet and already he had been caught off-guard by as mundane a thing as that. "What? Little romantic for their first reunion, isn't it?"

Tony winked his approval at Clint before taking the coffeepot off the burner and pouring the first mug for Thor.

He smiled in thanks, "Sigyn reading stories to us was a childhood pastime. My brother would often fall asleep by the end, which angered her more often than it endeared him in her eyes."

Pepper didn't have a wistful look for long after noticing the time. "Well I'll be late for a meeting if I don't leave now. See you all tonight, dinner will be on me."

Clint waited for Tony to make a joke, something along the lines of gladly eating dinner off of her, but silence followed Pepper's departure.

Clint was not the only one who noticed and he caught Bruce's eyes.

Everyone was having domestic problems today.

* * *

Sigyn returned from her talk with Loki looking tired but cheerful. Her news upon entering the lounge was cause for celebration in her eyes, even if her tone remained morose. "He is resting, almost snoring as if he were a beast."

Thor immediately grinned except in the search of Sigyn's face found something he did not like and the grin melted away, concern taking its place. "There is something wrong?"

All eyes were on her once more, and she bristled into a better posture. "May we speak alone?" She would not say she did not trust earth's heroes, for only good things she had heard of them. Sigyn was not comfortable speaking blatantly in front of them, especially such personal things.

Thor must have seen it in her glance for he readily agreed. Sigyn breathed a sigh of relief as Tony told her she was welcome to stay in the spare bedroom beside Thor's.

Thor led her to the room, it was furnished elegantly with pale blue curtains and bed sheets, a writing desk and chair accompanying the dresser set.

Thor pulled the chair towards the bed and sat, waiting for Sigyn to do the same. Instead, she remained standing by the window with hands clasped in front of her.

"I am sorry to have taken you from Theoric for such nonsense. Loki remains stubborn?"

"I admit I was not prepared to see him in such a state. He has grown weary of his life, and sleep will not heal that."

Thor remained silent, suspecting she was not done speaking. She had yet to look him in the eyes, and the sunlight coming in from the windows blinded him to her features.

Even so, her voice was enough to convince him of her heartbreak on seeing one's friend so broken after knowing how strong they had been. Her guilt that they were to blame for the ebbing of that strength even if it hadn't been intentional began festering in her chest.

"I think it was unwise and foolish of me to have come. I should have been content knowing he was alive."

"You are the only one he would listen to."

"He would listen to you. You are still brash," She gave him a watery smile, settling herself on the bed's edge facing him. "As for Theoric…" Sigyn closed her eyes and when they reopened Thor did not recognize who stared back at him, for Sigyn had never looked at a loss for words.

"What has happened? Has Alfheim closed its doors to Asgard once again?"

"No, that matter is long settled. The Allfather has been kind in that regard."

At once Thor fell easily into his concern for his friend Sigyn hadn't witnessed for some time since they're separation. "Something troubles you. If Theoric has done you wrong-"

"Thor, please," Her amused laugh at his speculation was not as fulfilling to hear as when they would giggle as children, it was too hollow and did not fit her at all. Thor's worry almost drowned out her next words.

"Theoric went to Valhalla many years ago."

She had expected shock, perhaps anger from him but not the quiet sadness. "Why did you not come home?"

"What a question, when you _know_ we agreed I would not return to Asgard."

"That was for-" your protection. Those words, they died on his lips. She had looked away, and never before had she done so. Not since she lied about putting brine in Thor's bath that had stained his skin when they were young.

Thor left that matter for another day. This was not about his feelings of her lies- her husband was dead. "When did this happen?"

"He was murdered on a hunt… a year after we were married. There are no children, only I, his sister and niece."

It was unfathomable, this outspoken woman being so timid and far away, where her mind had always been sharp and present. That was the toll grief had taken on her, one added to by seeing Loki. "You have been alone for all that time, and when I came to tell you of Loki's fall, you said nothing. You made a promise on a lie."

"Alfheim had closed its gates to Asgard and other realms; it would not bode well for me to reach out to its princes and king to return home. The circumstances of Theoric's death were suspicious already, how would it look to his people if only a year had passed since our union and he was killed, and I was whisked away to Asgard? His sister was left with no one, and it was my duty to stay, I had an obligation to his family as his widow."

"You truly are a goddess of fidelity, Sigyn. My father named you right."

"Please do not tell Loki; anyone. We must keep this uncomplicated, I am here only to see him recover and I will return to Alfheim."

"You must return _to Asgard_, my mother and father would have it no other way, we would welcome his family gladly."

"You are kind, my prince, but I cannot. You know why,"

* * *

** A/N: I try not to end chapters on a cliffhanger, but it does happen sometimes.**

**Hope you enjoyed! This is an early chapter as I am occupied Friday. G**


	4. To Court Danger

**A/N: I am so happy to incorporate Frigga finally! I love writing her even if it's a challenge.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, this is my mantra.**

* * *

_To Court Danger_

**_If I were brave, I would have returned long ago._**

Her thoughts were not for want of forgetting how beautiful Asgard was, or the gleaming halls and ornate decoration guiding her way to the throne room. It was the people, those trailing by in hushed conversation, the town's people bustling back and forth from palace to the lower city that were unfamiliar and left an ache in Sigyn's heart.

She was recognized by some she knew, others merely gawked at her guardsmen escort from the gates to Odin's throne room. Was she important? She did resemble the fallen prince's forgotten love interest, did she not? Mama, look at how she dresses, is she a princess? How dare that woman walk freely into the palace, when she was consort to a Jotun traitor?

Sigyn ignored their words, and held her head high, for the grand doors opened and the guards, preceding her, held the Allfathers attention and now so did she.

"King Odin, you have a visitor."

That all-seeing and benevolent eye lapsed on her before he ushered away the guards and gestured for his wife to come to the bottom steps to greet their visitor from the table she had been sitting at. Queen Frigga smiled on first seeing Sigyn but soon darkened, probably wondering why she had come. Was it news of her sons or a more troubling treatise for the Allfather on behalf of Alfheim?

Sigyn did her best to radiate a calming presence, bowing slightly in Frigga's direction, warm smile softening her strained face.

Odin stood to address her. "Lady Sigyn, it is a pleasant surprise to see you again."

**_Not such a pleasant surprise, I think._**

"I have comes at your son's request for some of prince Loki's personal affects."

The already chilly seasonal air bit at her exposed skin suddenly, as if she had given herself shivers and it had not been the icy glare from Odin and the grimace from Frigga that had turned Sigyn's blood to stone. **_Let him be angry, he cannot harm me_**. She knew it was more hope than fact.

"I have only one son, and he is no longer a prince of Asgard."

"That is unfortunate to hear." Sigyn cursed her tongue and the influence of Loki in their childhood to be so brisk with Odin. She knew remembering her place among the royal family would be a benefit, but the quick grin from the Queen did not deflate Sigyn;s pride at her bitter tone.

"How is your husband?"

**_Quite dead, Allfather, but he would send his respects from Valhalla nonetheless_**.

"Theoric is well, he is hunting in the fields and will be occupied for the next few weeks."

Inclining her head more cut out the concerning look Frigga had been quick to hide from her own husband, for she knew Sigyn well and thus, the young woman knew fooling the Queen would be hard.

Frigga knew heartbreak well and would recognize it in another.

Odin continued as if he had not noticed Sigyn turning her eyes away from the throne. "You have always been loyal, Lady Sigyn. It is because of my affection for that loyalty you may gather the traitor's affects. I trust you still know the way." It was added on as an afterthought, but Odin did not say hollow words, it was his dig at Sigyn for the rumours surrounding her hasty marriage to Theoric and her absence from court for so long.

**_Two can play this game, my King_**. "Actually, Allfather, I must ask Queen Frigga accompany me. It has been long since we spoke and I find I have much to tell her." **_I just do not know which game you play yet_**.

* * *

Old school charm. It was an aura she had grown to accommodate, carried in her warm smile, kind words and that slight southern twang to her voice. Smart as a whip and not afraid to show it, to take command of a situation.

Those were the characteristics Steve first noticed. They were the ones that had led him to her office on the Helicarrier, which was not much more than a desk among many in one of the rooms of the medical floor. She shared it with other medics, doctors and SHIELD trauma surgeons.

He had found her one Saturday afternoon after a briefing with the Avengers sipping coffee and writing up a report.

"Doctor Williams?"

"If you're here to tell me you've hit your head, give it a few hours super soldier."

Steve smiled, "May I?"

"Please," She removed the stack of folders taking up the only vacant chair in the room. The other desks were unoccupied; everyone had gone for lunch and had other duties to occupy themselves. Steve vaguely remembered a talk about one of the field teams coming back with brutal injuries, and chalked it up to work load that Cassie had found herself alone.

Cassie closed the confidential files and gave all her attention to him for the first time since they'd met. "Something wrong or are you the messenger for Stark complaining about the lack of babying by my team?"

Steve tried not looking her directly in the eye and just smirked. Tony had said something about that, but it wasn't why he had found himself in her office.

"Actually, I came to welcome you to the team." Cassie and her staff had been put on official Avenger watch, and by her response she already knew. Cassie's expression perked in interest when he told her exactly how she was being welcomed.

She sounded a little incredulous, which instantly reminded Steve that Cassie was a career oriented lady who might not take kindly to an invite to lunch. "You want to have coffee?"

Steve tried not to squirm under her scrutiny; she reminded him a lot of Peggy. "I think so. Yes."

What he hadn't expected was a smile and a yes.

* * *

Silence had never been Sigyn's dearest companion. Compared to the past times when nothing had been said or quiet prevailed over all else the walk with Frigga to the family's private chambers was the happiest silence Sigyn ever remembered. The last time nothing could be said was the day Thor told her of Loki's fall. Since then, Sigyn learnt to fill pauses with joyous talk or productivity.

Thankfully Frigga saved her from the more embarrassing topics she started to entertain halfway to their destination. "How are my sons?"

Sigyn was assured Frigga did not share Odin's thoughts and was ashamed her small sigh of relief was noticed.

"Thor is well, my Queen. Loki is adjusting still."

They had come around the bend, where on each side of the hall stood simple doors, one leading to Loki's rooms and the other, Thor's. Nothing distinguished them, only the Warrior's Three and a few of the guard knew the difference. Frigga proceeded opening Loki's with the push of her hand, and a shield resembling the ones holding up the walls of the dungeons fell invisible to the floor. Once entered, Sigyn and Frigga lit the few remaining candles to illuminate the sparse walls and furniture still dusted daily by servants.

"He should be recovering at home. As should you have done."

There used to be a wall of ivy hiding stone underneath in the garden, and Loki has once tricked Sigyn attempting to run through it. That is what it felt to Sigyn hearing the Queen's words, calling Asgard her home as if Alfheim never existed, as if she had never cared for Theoric and that life had been a place holder for this one.

"Beg your pardon?" If her voice sounded like a leaf fluttering to the ground, hardly there but noticed in the silence, Sigyn cared not. Once they had stepped into Loki's chambers, Frigga was just a loving mother and Sigyn a foolish girl. They were both harassed with memories of the past and no longer did their stations matter.

"I once described the passing of an old friend to you in that same way. A long hunting trip."

Sigyn remembered it well, but remained quiet as she picked through books on shelves, selecting a few Loki might appreciate having again.

**_What could I say?_** Not very much, for Frigga was now speaking from the inner bedchamber.

"Collect what you need, I will retrieve some clothing."

Sigyn bent to retrieve the messenger bag she knew Loki kept under the desk, the one Thor had thoughtfully (a surprise to all) made his brother to carry trinkets from other lands. Upon upending it onto the large oak desk, pieces of parchment and quills spilled out along with a small pocket-sized leather bound book.

In it was a compilation of notes of his travels. Not paying mind, she put it back in his bag, thinking he would want ti as well. Stuffing what had been in the bag back in, she added the few books she could and a drawing Loki had done long ago of his mother. A gentle reminder of family.

Latching the bag closed, Sigyn secured it to her back just as Frigga had come in from the bedchamber with another small bag and a sad smile pulling down her beauty, but not drowning it out. Sigyn did not ask why she had tears in her eyes as they closed the door once more and stepped into the brighter hall.

* * *

Loki felt the need to point out he had been fine roaming the multitude of floors alone, and had been doing just that most nights while the other occupants slept. He had caught Miss Williams one night studying something under her microscopes and jotting down notes in a small book she always kept in her purse.

He had approached slowly at first, not wanting to startle her. The last they had spoken he was unkind to her which was unfair. Cassie was nothing if not accommodating and unfailingly decent, with a quick wit Loki was innately attracted to.

To accomplish anything close to apology that meant interacting with her- and what better time than the dead of night with little chance of interruption? Sigyn had gone to Asgard on Thor`s request and had been gone for a few days, none of them expected her back very soon. This left Loki to his own entertainment, for Thor had decided that he was quite safe there and had gone on some adventure with Banner on SHIELDs entreaty.

She clearly knew he was there; her movements became slower, almost so she didn't frighten him off by being loud and clumsy. She replaced the glass slides underneath the telescope and looked up.

Loki gestured to the stool beside her. "Mind if I join you?"

Cassie shrugged but her small welcoming smile put all of Loki's doubts at ease. This woman was a healer; it was in her nature to be helpful even if it meant entertaining a trickster so late in the night.

"May I?"

Cassie wheeled away and pulled his chair so he sat in reach of the scope. "Be my guest. I'm going to go file these, you okay for a few minutes?" In her hands were gathered documents and manila envelopes that had been scattered in a semicircle around the workstation, most of them filled to the brim with colourful sticky notes, handwritten messages and typed pages of data Loki was insanely curious about.

She waited for his nod, and then went across the room to an assortment of metal filing cabinets. The sounds of her ruffling through files reorganizing continued to be the only noise, all of the commotion inviting the feeling of contentment. It was a break from the silent hours spent in his cell which Stark had only agreed to let him out with the added security of JARVIS.

Loki looked through the lens and had to blink a few times to focus.

He must have made some sound of derision in the back of his throat, hard to tell for it was still constantly sore, for Cassie to speak up as she closed the drawers. "Something wrong?" It wasn't concern, as if he had fallen to the floor and was in pain from invisible wounds.

This was a manner he had oft heard Frigga use when pretending to be ignorant of the situation.

"No." It was not convincing in the slightest.

Cassie sighed. "You can ask me questions, Loki. Kind of my job to have the answers."

Keeping his eyes levelled to the scope but following her movement to the other side of the bench, Loki posed a question. "What sort of healer are you?"

Cassie smirked and sat down, arms crossed on the table, tracing the patterns on his borrowed shirt with her eyes. "A human healer."

Loftily and with a smugness Loki believed he had lost, "Meaning you are human or only treat humans?"

Her smile broke into a grin and she laughed. "I am human and I treat humans. Why?"

"This…sample. It is _not_ human." Loki was instantly suspicious when her face went emotionless and she reached for the scope, pulling it across the table. She switched between looking through the lens and at Loki.

She squinted up at him, and slowly but seriously clarified, "You mean to tell me this is not human, or Asgardian, or anything of the sort?"

"It is disguised to resemble Asgardian blood cells. Whoever that blood belongs to is Jotun."

Loki believed it was only one of his, that perhaps the doctor in her sleep deprived state as she obviously was with messy hair and bruise like shadows beneath her honey coloured eyes. At first her alarming gasp was covered by her furrowing brows, and Loki went back to sifting through files she had left on the desk.

When she did not tell him to unhand them, that they were confidential files, did Loki become concerned.

"Doctor Williams?"

Three seconds and her confused if not slightly aghast expression turned to silent horror. "Oh lord no!" She had jumped from the table so fast Loki flinched. His own heartbeat echoed in his ears, and if Cassie hadn't been in such a dire hurry to speak to whoever she was frantically dialing on the phone, she would have apologized for frightening him.

It had been a rule around the tower that when Loki was in the room, no outbursts or loud noises were to occur.

Loki had destroyed an entire floor just weeks prior when Clint dropped in from the ceiling with a "Hey man," and Loki went into self-defence and sent a shockwave through the entire tower.

JARVIS was even knocked offline.

Clint had been silently apologetic ever since. It was unpleasant seeing what once was a powerful god be brought to such lengths in order to feel safe. Thor had never seen his brother so alarmed, even in their childhood.

Cassie called it PTSD, and Loki did not quite understand the terms but accepted them.

It was only because the good doctor looked so terrified herself did Loki brush off her outburst.

Her hands were shaking as she held the phone to her ear, cursing to herself and forgetting Loki was even still there.

He would have left… but something in her tone made him stay seated.

"This is Doctor Cassie Williams, code three-four-victor-six, I need to speak with medical immediately. Crisis ninety-four, there is a foreign body in the medical ward and you need to evacuate immediately."

Alarmed silence, her eyes were wide, "Then patch me through to director Fury or Maria Hill, and who cares if its two a.m. this is a security breach!"

Her usual feminine lilt had turned into a furious, booming rage. Loki was quiet impressed with the authority she was able to exude in her anxious state. It was an odd sight; she was shoeless wearing jeans and a light periwinkle blouse with pearl buttons, looking much like a young woman who was lounging at home. Or a mother just informed her child had been imprisoned, hair in an array of tangles and mouth moving in silent curses.

It was no longer a phenomenon why Steve Rogers was infatuated with this woman.

Loki made a note to inform Rogers that Cassie may enjoy a night off in the near future.

It was doubtful it would happen, because the next thing she was shouting was that a Jotun was on Helicarrier Iliad. "The sample you gave me, from patient X in room forty-three-fifty, turns out I was right to suspect some foreign illness. That patient is from Jotunheim and is under a spell or something to disguise them as Asgardian."

A few moments of silence and the first time since the conversation started did Cassie look over her shoulder at Loki. "Yes, the same spell Loki Odinson uses. He is not the concern here, evacuate that wing and lock it down so help me god I will ensure Fury knocks down your pay grade to that of a teenager working at a fast food joint, you understand?"

Impressed, Loki remained respectfully silent once Cassie hung up the phone.

"JARVIS?"

"_At your service, Miss Williams."_

"Alert Agents Barton and Romanoff of the situation if Hill hasn't already and please get Mr. Stark down here."

* * *

"I know you will care for them,"

Heimdall was patient to wait while they said their goodbyes. Guards stood at the entrance to the dome with horses to guide Frigga back to the palace and leave Sigyn to travel to Midgard.

"That is my purpose," Sigyn bowed, wishing that her eyes did not sting with tears as she was once again forced to leave the city she loved. This time it was not out of duty or the loyalty Odin spoke too highly of, but selfishness. She had been welcomed to stay a night, rest before returning only to decline the offer without contemplation.

Sigyn did not want to be away from her Thor and Loki for more time than necessary now she had been reacquainted and gained a taste for their company again.

"Promise to look after yourself, for I care as much about your wellbeing as my sons."

Sigyn knew she looked shocked and a little cowed at the admission for Frigga smiled greatly in earnest before letting go of Sigyn's hands in farewell. "Return soon, I would gladly welcome you again, dear."

Speechless, she turned the same as Frigga, going separate ways once more. Heimdall opened the Bifrost, Sigyn stood looking back at the Queen who rode off quickly before Odin noticed she had sent Sigyn off herself.

"Be ready, my Lady," Heimdall's monotone voice instructed.

"Whenever you are."

Not even her senses caught up to the rush of colour and sensation coalescing in her body before being deposited on the balcony of Stark tower. It was late at night, she knew, for only the penthouse lights were on, and even Thor had fallen into slumber on the couch in the lounge with a red wool blanket draped over him. Sigyn walked into the kitchen with the bags on her back.

"_Welcome back, Miss Sigyn."_ JARVIS, the ever present servant of Stark's she had just remembered resided as the building's security system, dimmed the lights and opened the elevator doors for Sigyn just as she reached them.

"Thank you."

"_Your presence is needed on the medical floor_."

* * *

**A/N: Just a small interlude of what's happening outside of Loki's perception, it will be important later.**

**Hope you enjoyed! **

**(There will be an update to Culprits of Action on Wednesday) G**


	5. Disaster in Both Worlds

**A/N: Okay so think of this chapter as a kind of interlude to others because of reasons as in trying to set up a backstory to explain what will happen in the next few chapters. I'm a sucker for complete backstories so things make sense. Also, sorry about it being a day late, I was having trouble with uploading it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters.**

* * *

_Disaster in Both Worlds_

If she were to have stayed away, if she were to have decided her life had evolved past caring for he and Thor she would be as good as dead.

Loki knew this, and yet seeing Sigyn walk onto the medical floor at Stark Tower almost immediately on her return from Asgard was a shock still. If she had not come when Thor asked, Loki could not deny he would be in no shape to handle much else than breathing, for she encompassed most of his happier memories.

She had come, and she was there now, so why was he frantic with this great nothing in his chest?

"Is there something wrong?" He asked her, for perhaps that feeling nearest his heart did not come from him. They had been attuned to each other since childhood, and perhaps on her return, so did his ability to care.

"Returning to Asgard was everything I feared."

That evoked his madness, had the Allfather treated her roughly, is that why she harboured the look of a woman haunted? "What did Odin do?"

She carried Loki's personal bag; Sigyn must have gone to his old rooms for what she bore which must have been tricky.

"He did nothing, settle down," Sigyn immediately went to him to lightly push him back onto the stool, he was pale and weak still which did no good for either of them. Loki knew she worried herself too much, and that brought around other unnameable feelings.

Did Sigyn leave her children for him?

"I am fine," He snapped out of not knowing why she continued to evade her life for one she wanted to forget, one she willingly left. "It is in her nature to be faithful." He shivered against the intrusion of Odin's voice, of something the king had said long ago. "I have not had a single moment of rest today. Stark has the Avengers on shifts watching me."

He seemed more put out than usual, seeing as the only attendant Loki had at that moment was the ever watchful eyes of JARVIS while the Avengers were being briefed on Helicarrier Iliad's status in the conference rooms.

It clicked in Sigyn's mind that would be the reason JARVIS had summoned her there.

She needed to distract him from that problem and apparently the one he was creating in his mind about her returning to Asgard. "What does Thor say about that arrangement?"

"It's only for a month. For my continued recovery." It was flippant and Sigyn caught hint of him rolling his eyes but deigned a comment. She continued to browse the cabinets and various debris around the lab. "I see. I will not lie, it is because they still see you as a danger more to yourself than to them, I think."

It did not have the expected reaction. She had turned to see a perfect cal settle over Loki when his words had the bite of the monster he spoke of. "I honestly would send a bilgesnipe to their doorsteps to save me from this disgrace." Yet there was a twitch there at the edge of his thin mouth which told different.

"I do know when you're joking even if you are cruel about it."

"Yes, let's speak of you, my current Hel."

"Be nice, Loki, I've brought gifts."

"Oh, so the guards do care."

That was how easy it had been, falling into the banter of their past and as such her answer wiped the smirk from his face.

"They're from your mother."

Equally as fast, she could tell his mind did not just travel to past memories, but plunge there.

* * *

_In Asgard, some women were beautiful, some mothers or wives, some warriors, and all of them smart. The most intelligent were not born like that, especially those in political positions whose families hold rank within the court. Those women were bred to be cunning, learned through mistake and correction._

_Then there was Sigyn. Brought the King's son safely home and thus was rewarded a home within the palace. She had been smart from the beginning by befriending not only one prince but two, and Queen Frigga was never far behind when the Lady Sigyn got into trouble._

_Not many women were allowed to pass unquestioned by the guards around the prince's private wing of the palace._

_So on the morning of Thor and Loki's official coronation to name them Princes, with all rights and duties as their coming of age, Sigyn walked directly past the two guards stationed by the hall doors. Unravelling a piece of cloth to reveal fresh baked pastires from the kichens, Sigyn handed one off to each guard she passed._

_It wouldn't be a lie to say that the palace guards each wanted a turn guarding the princes when Sigyn was in Asgard._

_Bot bothering to nock on Loki's door, Sigyn entered and put the other bundle of cloth on Loki;s cluttered desk. It was the only space in the room where things were in disarray. The books on the shelf were in perfect order, the same for how Loki slept. Unlike his brother, he decided to take up one side of the bed and sleep proper on his back with either a hand behind his head s if he were merely napping or folded across his stomach._

_Sigyn crept onto the unoccupied side of the bed, and put her fingers through Loki;s short black hair. "Loki?" She knew the correct way Loki liked to be woken. Thor would just barge in after making a ruckus in the hall, jump onto the bed and announce that his brother had slept half the day away. "Loki," Sigyn whispered in his ear close enough to disturb some hair that had fallen into his face. She brushed it aside just as his eyes opened and looked at her from their corners._

_"What now?" His voice was cracked from sleep, just taking on the deep rumble and losing its boyish charm._

_Instead of answering, Sigyn leapt up to pull aside the heavy curtains across the room. "I brought breakfast; the tailor should be here soon so finish it quickly."_

_"I could get breakfast myself,"_

_"But would you? I know you don't like dining with Thor, it turns your stomach to see him shovel food into his mouth as if it were the end of times."_

_"You don't need to serve me."_

_Before Sigyn could put words to her offended expression, there was a knock on the door. Loki threw on a plain shirt before calling them in. He heard quiet talk in the ante-chamber before the bedchamber and raised a brow ay Sigyn, who sat with her arms crossed on the windowsill._

_"See, the palace isn't without servants." Indeed, the inner door opened and two maids came in, one bearing a breakfast tray and the other was the seamstress._

_"Point taken." Sigyn watched the maid set the tray on the bed before ushering herself into the bathing room to heat water for a bath._

_Sigyn occupied herself with looking out the window into the gardens while the seamstress fitted Loki a final time and left the clothes on his bed beside barely touched food. Sigyn was nibbling on some bread filled with honey and cheese that she almost spit out of her mouth when the seamstress asked if she knew how to dress the prince._

_"What?"_

_"Do not speak with food in your mouth, it's hardly ladylike." Loki called from the next room._

_She had never been one to speak badly to those who didn't deserve it, but from her lips came exactly what Loki had been waiting for. "First, the prince can dress himself, he isn't helpless. Secondly, I am not his servant. Now go see to Prince Thor."_

_The seamstress left with the maid, leaving the bathing door open and Sigyn saw that the water still steamed. "Go clean yourself, I will return these to the kitchens."_

* * *

_Sigyn's own rooms were in the busier part of the palace in the guest quarters that usually housed delegation parties from other realms when they had annual festivities or important political meetings. The topmost floor was hers, airy rooms that let in natural light and the summer warmth. In winter months Loki would charm a barrier to block out snowfall and the wind chill until Sigyn mastered the spell herself._

_That morning it was quite warm and breezy, and her rooms smelled of the marketplace far below her balconies. The formal attire Sigyn chose for that special occasion was a favourite of the Queens, a gift she had bartered from Alfheim in one of their trading deals._

_It was a dress of fluid blue and green silk dropping from her waist with lighter tones of fabric on the top which sprouted material from her shoulders that trailed on the floor in a shimmering blue-green pool. The breastplate covered half of her torso, hammered silver with a filigree design of green vines to imitate the specs of green in the two-toned silk._

_The dress was so exquisite that Sigyn decided to wear her clasped back in the seashell Thor had brought back from a voyage to Midgard with his father the last they travelled there. It was whitewashed with black specs of a stone she did not know the name for, but matched the darkness of her hair. Sigyn didn't own any jewellery, so didn't wear any. On her way to check on Loki, she picked up the book she had borrowed from him in order to return it._

_Gliding down the hall while flipping through the book, Sigyn did not notice the two men talking near the windows until one of them called out her name._

_"Lady Sigyn!"_

_Lowering the book and raising her eyes, she did a small curtsy to who she recognized as one of Odin's advisors accompanied by a man she hadn't seen in the palace before. Schooling herself to sound pleasant and not annoyed at this distraction she addressed them. "Mimir, what a pleasure. How fairs King Odin this morning?"_

_"He is well, but not quite as fair as you this morning. You look beautiful, my dear."_

_Mimir was a tricky man, Sigyn did not dislike him but he always put her stomach ill at ease._

_"This is my dear friend Theoric, a guest to witness the coronation."_

_Sigyn gave Theoric a small smile, "I apologise. I do not recognize you. Have you been at the palace long?"_

_"Norns no. My home is on Alfheim, as I hear so is yours." It was a slippery glint in his eye, catching her off guard. No man had looked at her such before and she found she was not speechless, but angered. She was not some palace maiden one could court with a sly smile which coincidentally mirrored his. Still, the acid in her tone went unnoticed. "I have not been there in a very long time. Asgard is my home now. I am sorry but I do need to be going,"_

_Sigyn turned to walk down the hall and for the life of her did not know why, when Theoric bid a pleasant farewell, did she pause briefly._

_She had a bad feeling coiling in her stomach and did not like the way both the men had leered._

_Walking back into Loki's rooms, Sigyn took a moment before opening the inner door. She could hear Thor and Loki having a decent conversation, which was not often these days. Before interrupting them, Sigyn left the book on the small table beside the doorway._

_Thor stood in armour and red cape, hair partly tied back with a leather cord. He had been wearing his hair longer with every passing year and soon enough it would be grazing his shoulders. Nothing had changed there, even his lopsided grin at Sigyn was still the same._

_"You are a vision, Lady Sigyn." Thor gripped her tight in a hug, lifting her off her feet._

_"Careful, brother, our Sigyn isn't one for hugging. She may curse your nose off."_

_Thor rolled his eyes and sat back on the bed. Loki, however, was nowhere in sight. Sigyn could not resist the taunt. "Shouldn't you be the one wearing a dress? It's not often you're the last of us ready." Thor winked at her wickedness before snickering._

_Thor was not one for waiting, and perhaps that was Loki's reason for dallying. "Loki you try our patience."_

_"No, Thor, let him preen. I am sure he looks every bit a prince."_

_Between Thor's giant bellows of laughter and her lighter than bells peel of giggles, Loki threw open the door and waited for them to be able to see through their watering eyes. "Happy, are we? You two look ridiculous."_

_If Loki was honest, Sigyn didn't look so foolish in her dress. It was a nice complement to her inherent elegance and eyes, the colour of a dark forest only shone brighter. Loki cleared his throat when Sigyn met his gaze._

_She smirked, "You don't look so ridiculous. It suits you," It did, the black criss-crossed leather armour only deepened the colour of his hair and paled his skin, gold-bronze gauntlets and green sleeves tight knitted and the inlaid gold of his jacket was stunning._

_Loki did not seem pleased. Thor caught on faster than Sigyn, which was unusual. "Brother, it is only for a day. You may get used to the look."_

_"Have you seen the helmet?"_

_Sigyn peeked beyond him and over the shoulder, where on the small table beside the claw-footed basin sat a golden helmet with curled horns, etched with a design she couldn't discern from that distance._

_To stop herself from laughing, Sigyn put a hand to her mouth. "It will make you look taller?"_

_Loki cursed Thor from his room after the thunder god fell off the bed in laughter._

* * *

_"Who is that man staring at you?"_

_Loki and Thor stood in the chamber off the throne room, the doors were open, revealing the guests taking positions at each side of the throne hall waiting for the King and Queen to be seated and start the ceremony._

_Theoric stood closest to the throne beside Mimir, casting overt glances at Sigyn, who had the honour of leading the princes to their father._

_Whispering behind her and turning her head but a little, "Theoric, he is from Alfheim. Mimir's guest. I met him this morning."_

_Thor said what Loki's face expressed. "He is too familiar."_

_"Thor, I am not royalty. Men may look at me how they please. If they do more than that, they will be on the ground."_

_"You would tackle him down?" From Loki's perspective this man looked Thor's size and without the quality of a kind face._

_Sigyn tapped his shoulder so he pulled his gaze from the man who now spoke in whispers to those around him, all waiting for the ceremony to begin. The hum in the grand hall was inspiring, laughter and even small songs from the children of the court as they raced between the two sides where they were gathered. "Ever the skeptic, Loki. Sif has been giving me lessons."_

_"That doesn't bode well."_

_"Hush, today you must act like princes."_

_"And tomorrow, barbarians." Thor's hopefulness almost broke the tentative smile she was trying to conceal._

_"Would you please-"_

_Their laughter and Sigyn's annoyance was short lived as the horns began playing. Odin and Frigga had seated themselves. It was much fanfare for a technicality, but that's how things were done in Asgard, Sigyn knew. While she walked gracefully down the steps and between the onlookers, most of them of the court and behind those gilded men and women stood some townsfolk, Sigyn calmed herself trying to recollect the little she remembered from Alfheim. Wide open fields with flowers in a millions shades in a sunlit bask, the dense forests and sparse rocky shores where grass met sand and blue skies met stormy seas. It was not as elegant or refined as Asgard, for her home had a brutal beauty she admired more._

_Sigyn caught Theoric's eye and couldn't help her smile. He reminded her of Alfheim, and even if Asgard was her home now, she could never forget where she'd come from._

_Asgard was where she had befriended Loki's brother and the Warriors Three, their adventures to other realms, and the promise of seeing Midgard one day._

_Before she knew where her feet took her, Sigyn stood alongside the Warriors Three and Sif on the steps of the throne as Loki and Thor bowed heads on bended knee to be crowned princes of Asgard._

_As Odin made his speech, most of which Sigyn caught none of, and Frigga looked on with pride, Sif got Sigyn's attention by pulling on the fabric of her cape. "I need your assistance."_

_Puzzled as to why, and curiosity getting the better of her every second she gauged Sif's pleading eyes, Sigyn nodded and they made their exit quietly through the back of the room, between the pillars to the outside balconies._

_"Is something very wrong?" She played innocent enough that many believed Sigyn to just be another woman, and not many knew her connection to Loki and Thor outside of the palace. Many of the townsfolk crowded around the balcony paid them no more mind than furtive glances._

_"One of the guards caught two assassins attempting to break into Thor and Loki;s rooms."_

_Sigyn immediately understood. "Loki and I enchanted the walls around their chambers, their feat should have been impossible."_

_"Which is why I'm telling you before you're questioned."_

_"Me, questioned?"_

_Sif looked just as appalled as Sigyn felt. "I know you would never endanger their lives by being careless. Nevertheless, we must investigate before things get out of hand."_

_"Where are the assassins?"_

_"Escaped. I had hoped you could track them."_

_"Who else knows?"_

_"Heimdall and the royal guards."_

_"Take me where they were last seen."_

_"Of course."_

* * *

_Sigyn had changed out of her gown and robes into something more suited to the seriousness of the situation. Outfitted almost like Sif, in silver breastplate and gauntlets, her dress black obsidian with black leather armour cross crossing her torso and in flaps covering her skirts. A dagger sheathed at the waist, and hidden in the metal clasp holding her hair back were small poison pins she had only used once before._

_Sigyn was not a fighter by nature, but could be as menacing as one._

_This time the guards did not smirk upon seeing her and did not make a comment as they escorted the women to the edges of the palace grounds where the back of the great city ended in winding dirt roads and the treeline towards the mountains beyond. Where two streams met was where the guards awaited their return, with warnings to do so or send word by nightfall._

_"Watch out for snake traps," Sif's lighthearted tone gave away how comfortable she was hiking the trails she had grown up running. Sigyn followed close behind, working her spell so her hands held a golden sheen of light, out in front of her as if shielding an attack, guiding their direction. The assassins had left a faint trail, one that smelled of ash and whetstone._

_"These men know how to cover their tracks." It was worrying. For a pair of assassins who had failed at murdering the princes and had been caught, they seemed more intelligent than that to Sigyn._

_It was when they passed a large felled tree, falle over in an arch by a clump of stones did Sigyn know wher the assassins had headed._

_Her abrupt stop had Sif spun around expecting danger, but only saw Sigyn's downcast eyes and clenched fists._

_"What is it?" The forest was quiet; all Sif could hear was a gurgling stream nearby and the soft chirps of birds overhead on the branches._

_"I believe I know who sent the assassins."_

_Sigyn pointed to where the tree seemed uprooted, and what shone beneath the moss looked like the rainbow bridge how it was hitting the setting sunlight. It was a pathway between Alfheim and Asgard, the same passage Sigyn and taken Loki through many years before while he had been blind and mute._

_"The assassins are from Alfheim."_

* * *

_Thor was always the one for entertainment, telling epic stories of their adventures, preferring the company of many to nudge him. That is always how it had been, and Loki was content to sit at the table and partake in the stories and revelry, until the point in the night where he would escape to the sidelines and talk with Sigyn or other few people who caught his interest. That night the halls were shining with mirth and drink, more food than even Thor's stomach could handle and enough women for them all tenfold._

_Loki only sought one. He had not seen Sigyn since the beginning of the ceremony and neither had the Warriors three. Idly roaming the halls she usually frequented, Loki found no trace of her in the armory or on the bench beneath the apple trees. Hazarding to walk into her private rooms, Loki found no fire burning to ward off the chilly night air or her bed disturbed._

_Loki's scrutiny passed her party dress, which had slipped to the gleaming floor beneath the chair when she had taken it off and casually flung aside._

_Loki gathered the party moved to the outer courtyards where lanterns were being sent into the air and mead handed around as if it were water. One of the lanterns rose above Sigyn's balcony, where Loki reached out a hand to catch it. Inside was a white pillar candle burning bright and smelling of spring water. The rivalry floating up with the dim lanterns brought a sense of calm._

_Letting go of the thin papery thing, he watched it until it was just as small as a star prick in the sky. Rooting though Sigyn's desk, Loki found a small purple candle with a silver wick, something he vaguely remembered as a purchase in the marketplace a few weeks prior. Grabbing another lantern that had the misfortune of floating within reaching distance, Loki replaced the white candle with the purple and set it alight with a spark of magic._

_It was the same purple as the plum trees which used to grow near Sigyn's village; it brought a smile to his lips._

_Loki decided to sit on one of the cushioned chairs adorning the balcony; lantern secured with twine to the low table beside him, and wait for Sigyn to return from wherever she had gone._

_"Brother!" The doors to Sigyn's chambers opened with a bang, the gilded wood colliding with solid brick. Startled awake, Loki put a hand up to keep the blinding sun from blocking his view of Thor stepping up the stone balcony steps where Loki had fallen asleep._

_"Father approved our plea to go hunting for a few days, to the forests outside the towns. He says it will be good to stretch our legs and work off our princely egos."_

_A quick glance to the bedchamber up a small step was the confirmation to Loki that Sigyn had decided not to wake him on her way out. She had always been an early riser._

_"If we must." Loki knew he could explain himself to her when they'd returned, Sigyn knew of Thor's impatience for the hunt and would forgive them for not inviting her._

* * *

A/N: Ta-da! Done. Next chapter will be all Earth. Thank you for the follows/favourites I really appreciate it and it fuels me to write more.


	6. Let's Try

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, work was hectic and a new apartment and all. Anyway, enough with excuses. This is a little longer because I felt bad for not updating in so long. I promise to try and keep the updates to every Friday.**

**Disclaimer: Still do not own Marvel, what a pity.**

* * *

_Let's Try _

_Not gonna fly man_, Clint said as much. He was as perceptive as Nat when it came to micro expressions but the looks he received on his evaluation of their plan couldn't be discerned.

Even Steve had an unreadable, debating look that put Clint on edge. If Captain America was indecisive… it meant trouble. Clint elaborated, "Fury isn't gonna let him leave this tower, you're already pushing it letting him roam with only JARVIS to watch."

"Lady Sigyn is with my brother, Barton." Thor reminded as if that ended the conversation. It certainly did not and the collective tension that had been accruing in the conference room shot up.

"Fury won't let him on the Helicarrier." It really was simple as that, but Clint had the nagging suspicion his own perspective was coming into play here. **_Be objective, Barton_**_._ "Not without clearance and I trust Sigyn but Fury's paranoia is a different animal." He refrained from pointing out he didn't trust Loki- that had been obvious ever since the fiasco of Loki almost blowing the tower to pieces.

"Hate to be the devil's advocate," _That_ received some exasperated looks, "but the bird's right." Tony shrugged. "I don't see One-Eye letting Loki on any flying machinery after what happened last year."

Thor's lack of disagreement gave Clint hope the thunder god could see reason enough why his friends were reluctant to just let Loki loose. Brothers they may be, but apparently family bonds at least ended with truth.

* * *

Once the illusion dissipated and Loki brought himself back from the realm of memories that seemed to never leave the periphery of his notice, did he realize Sigyn had been perched on a stool opposite him.

A glance at the clock informed him she had been there for the better part of the hour.

The concern of her eyes was recent. His movement alerted her. "Loki?" Fingers instantly stalled flipping the pages of a medical journal crammed with miniscule printed words and diagrams tightly packed with labels. She didn't feign an interest in the book even, as quick as she set it aside without marking her page. A sharp memory invaded his vision of a young woman emphatically demanding Loki wait until she had finished the lesson in their books before indulging his whim to torment Thor.

"Yes." He distractedly answered lest she become overly concerned with his lack of response.

"You seemed… distant. Are you still?" In her eyes shone hope he was not, but truthfully there was always a bitter reel playing in his mind of past things he wished not to remember so clearly, least of all with so much guilt making it hard to concentrate on anything presently happening.

He had forgotten why they were alone on Stark's medical floor when Sigyn began filling the roaring silence in his mind with chatter.

Talk was the only good thing she used her mouth for lately, in his strong opinion.

"You became pensive so quick I never got a chance to show you what I've returned with." His personal bag still sat on the table nearest the wall and she dragged it across the shining steel table before him.

Loki could tell she itched for him to open it. He allowed himself the small reprieve of his fingers resting over the carved designs in the leather before flipping the lip open and seeing very prominently the spine of a book.

Plain and black bindings keeping leafs of differently sized and dyed parchment together, a collection of recipes, drawings, designs and the like he had done over his youth.

One of the recipes he had written while sitting in the kitchens listening to the cooks berate the servants on what to do as opposed to what they'd done. Another was in Frigga's handwriting, smooth and constant over the page like rivers meandering through a glen.

The last document was something he wished had been left out when Frigga had bound the pieces for him. Upon seeing it he snapped the pages shut and set it aside with more care than he felt it deserved.

The rest were clothes, some ink and quills, salves and healing stones. Nothing of particular note, but still a token of Frigga's caring, and to an extent the woman who now sat across from him, her patience palpable and annoying.

Her eyebrows were arched a small bit, eyes glistening at the pages of the book she had found renewed interest in as fast as a fish has interest in breathing air.

"What news have you of Asgard?"

That mask of hers slipped in as if she had never left. "The season changes,"

"For one so observant that is hardly news."

* * *

Cassie was chewing the inside of her lip as the team debated what their best tactic would be, when something a little short of a good idea struck her as if it were the most obvious. It must have shown on her face, the only Avenger not arguing their action plan brought attention to her with all the grace of a disabled cow. "Lady Cassandra, if you have something to say, please." He gestured as if she could take command of the floor.

Thor's booming voice had done exactly that.

"Well… doesn't Sigyn have magic?"

That made Tony scoff but even Thor was used to it by then and paid no mind. "She used to, I am not sure if she still employs it."

Cassie took a deep breath, "Well… what if she were to go into patient X's room and… get more samples. Mr. Stark could temporarily disable SHIELD's ability to detect Asgardian magic, or the radiation it leaves," That was for Tony's peace of mind only, for even mentioning magic around him turned the man into a erratic five year old, "and put a tracker in the patient, get her own look and see if she can detect anything."

"You say the anatomy, or blood, is Jotun. Lady Sigyn has only come into contact with one."

"Exactly, she is used to the type of magic Loki uses as a disguise; she could tell us if it's the same."

They seemed to mull it over and Cassie allowed herself a small grin in victory. **_They might go for it,_** and the proud smirk Steve was staring at the floor with confirmed it.

Clint shrugged, and they all traded looks, almost enjoying her personal torture in the silence of their wordless debate.

Steve briefly closed his eyes and Cassie looked away quickly when they turned to her. "Well, I think you're the ring-leader here, Cassie."

"Thank you Lady Cassandra, I see why the Director tasked you with our care." Thor departed to the medical floor to update his brother and Sigyn.

Cassie thought it all done with and was preparing to go with Stark to his lab in the hopes he could create the specific tracker she had in mind, when Clint Barton asked Thor what seemed an innocent question but the answer was more information than they really wanted.

"Buddy, what's with the medieval 'Lady's all the time?" Clint was scrolling through the phone Tony had lent them all for emergencies, most likely about to inform Natasha of their plan.

"It is a term of respect for one whom you've had no intimate relations with." And Thor was back to the dumfounded look that screamed, _Midgardians and their lack of understanding_, as the elevator doors closed.

Bruce, who had been characteristically silent for most of the meeting burst into chuckling. It caused them all to chuckle in spite of the very apparent danger of Loki ever finding out they knew.

* * *

"Brother!"

Loki cringed, he and Sigyn had just been passing a comfortable few minutes in each others company, _Thor must ruin everything eventually, _but his thoughts held none of the bitterness his words might have had he spoken out loud. In lieu of advising Thor to remove himself from their presence, Loki gave him a smile.

Stopped in his tracks, the thunder god looked to Sigyn for reassurance Loki was not about to assassinate him, for that grin was a trickery in itself. "Have I interrupted?"

"Make no apology," Sigyn rose, making no noise, and gave Loki one last look but it held no meaning, "Is there a situation?"

"Yes. We need your assistance."

"You would." Loki's voice had rotted hollow, but nothing of his demeanor changed to match it. "Being domestic never suited you, Sigyn. Be wary not to linger on Midgard for long, keep in mind there are others who require your presence."

Without warning Loki left the table with a nod to Thor, "You know where to find me, brother." Taking his leave of them while JARVIS informed Loki if he wished for other company, Pepper Potts was in the penthouse.

Sigyn and Thor last heard Loki asking JARVIS if Lady Pepper wished to accompany him to the roof for fresh afternoon air.

In the instant the doors closed, Thor's eyes turned downcast and dim. A quick transformation from boyant brother to a worried prince. It seemed Loki was not the only one to be radically twisted into something else for all their past troubles. Thor was no longer the care-free brash young man, he had not only taken on responsibility of Loki, but an entire planet apart from Asgard. "How was returning home?" There it was, how Thor had changed summed up in four words that should not have sounded so false with only a sprig of happiness to hear of home.

She allowed a small smile at that, not wanting to bleed away his contentment with the sharp edge of her unsureness that Asgard had ever been home.

"Your mother worries for you both."

Sigyn hefted the small pack she'd retrieved into Thor's as he said, "She is right to. Loki still endures the effects of what the Chitauri have done, even after all this time."

"It will take more than time to heal. More than I alone can give."

The exact method they wished to heal him with was held between them by his roughened hands. memories of home, of something sweeter than pain and torture.

Or the company of a friend. Preferring to distract Thor from his muddled exasperation on how to deal with one who did not wish to be dealt with, Sigyn asked what use she could be of the Avengers.

"Doctor Williams has come up with a plan to get you onto the carrier and take more samples from this Jotun patient."

"Thor, you may not remember but my magic is not protective, if anything were to go wrong others than myself will be injured." This was not what Sigyn had thought he;d say. His expression was nothing close to the face Thor had used to coerce friends into going into battle.

This was one of need, not want.

They needed her to do this, and Sigyn sharp enough in her wits could guess it would be disastrous if she were to decline.

"I am to get samples. What of the Jotun? Are we to leave them there and endanger the lives of every human on that vessel?"

"We do not know the condition they are in. Only that they've been there for a number of months. He looks _human_." The word had a sour eing to it, as if Thor abhorred the very idea a Jotun would do such a thing. The only difference between this unidentified Jotun and Thor's own brother was that Loki had been kept in the dark about his origin as much as they.

Sigyn got an idea and called for JARVIS to bring them to where the others were gathered; as they boarded the elevator Sigyn hashed a plan in her mind.

"Is it a closed ward? If a fight would occur, how many innocents would be close by?" Sigyn feared her worry would show on her face, so she composed herself on the outside while inside, she was dreading this.

"It is a critical ward I am told. Treating patients who will not wake."

The elevator doors opened, and there stood the Avengers fo the first time Sigyn had seen clothed in their battle armour.

**_Armour is not the term on Midgard, _**for only Tony Stark wore protective alloy in the from of his suit. Sigyn approached them and at once their attention was caught by her entrance. She had not changed from her dress and robes, almost blinding in their bright gold and hues of silver only darkened by her ebony hair.

"I have just had a thought." Her voice carried, the only sound in the room except for the whirring of Tony's various lab electronics. "Loki did not realize he was not Asgardian, the Allfather and Queen Frigga cast a spell to disguise him when he was a child. He was never aware until touched by another of his kind. What if this patient is the same?"

"The lady has a point," Stark fitted the mask back on his helmet. "If this dude goes as crazy as Loki did when he found out, we could have a problem on our hands."

"We don't fully know what this patient is aware of either. Coma's adversely affect different races let alone beings from another planet. He could be aware of more than we think." Cassie's dark expression brought on the realization that they were essentially walking in blind. "but we also can't leave him to figure it out himself once he does wake."

"There's danger in either direction we choose, the question is which one are we more prepared to handle the consequences?"

Sigyns assessment of the situation got a thoughtful nod from Rogers. He picked up his shield and pulled his mask on. "I say we go for the sample." Clear blue eyes held Sigyn;s darker ones and she also nodded.

"Then you have my assistance." Her back was straight and her hands clasped in front of her, looking more a regal lady from another planet than the fearsome warrior Thor had mentioned she'd once been.

She was no Lady Sif and Sigyn tried not seeing that in everyone's expressions.

"Gladly I brought back essentials from Asgard. I only need know when we will be departing."

"About an hour, your support just touched down at the airport." Clint waved his phone as if that was proof of his implications.

"Support?"

"Natasha has been briefed." Steve winked at Sigyn and left out the side door into the hallway.

Thor was beaming. "Lady Natasha is an excellent choice." He patted Sigyn on the shoulder to lead her to the spare rooms Pepper had set up earlier that week. "You are much alike."

Sigyn grimaced, **_as a tree is alike with the mushroom growing in its shadow._**

* * *

**A/N: So, to go along with this chapter I am posting another very soon… probably today. I've just been waiting for the right time to incorporate it.**

**Hope you enjoyed! G**


	7. Incomplete

**A/N: A little accompaniment to the other chapter I posted today, as an apology for time between updates being so long. I was waiting for the right time to put this into the story so here you go. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel but it owns me.**

* * *

_Incomplete_

**_This is a prison_**, their smiles and words came out wrong, or he heard them wrong. That could be the case as he knew the mind the Chitauri left him with was bereft with insanity most of the time.

Escape from them was his only solace, or the very idea of it. Loki knew once he had removed hiself from their warm presence, he would be attacked by memories that had been tampered with.

Or he hoped they were for the past he had lived couldn't be one so painful. even doubting himself was a ripple effect from what The Other had intended. **_My doubt only plays into his hands._**

Loki's hesitance was a curse so instead, he said the only thing he was sure of in that moment, that the steely gaze Sigyn blessed him with looked wrong. It did not suite her to be his caretaker.

That he was sure of. "Being domestic never suited you, Sigyn." **_She used to have blood on her lips, _**flashes of her in battle bombarded him like enemy fire when those images were anything but threatening. "Be wary not to linger on Midgard for long, keep in mind there are others who require your presence." **_Your husband, for one. _**He shot up from his stool, feeling the sweet tendrils of breathable air where none other occupied it. The roof, perhaps.

Still memories flashed in his vision, the disembodied voice he knew as his own saying, "You know where to find me, brother."

Escaping into the elevator brought a barrage of other noise, the voice of JARVIS, "Miss Potts is in the penthouse if you wish for company."

"I will be on the roof if she wishes to speak with me." Loki closed his eyes for the doors were not swift enough for his liking, and Sigyn's unbloodied face only haunted him.

She looked too worn to be herself, not suited to standing around and waiting for him to get better when he knew, among these metallic tasting memories, she was nothing of the sort.

She was fierce but no longer raw with it…how he wished her to have remained.

**_Yet I owe her my life however corrupt it has become._**

* * *

_Many years before..._

_Sigyn picked up a branch as short and thin as her arm, whacking it against tree trunks as she ran. The sky had begun to darken with the suns descent, but it had left the soil of the fields comfortably warm. Sigyn let her bare feet soak up the warmth, feeling it as clear as an animal's involuntary cry in the distance. It stopped her heart and the breeze, rustling of grass and branches just an echo in the distance._

_The wind carried the cry in short bursts._

_Yet she knew of no animal that could make such desperate a call. It was muffled like smoke in a pit with enough terror to make Sigyn take a few steps back into the cover of the treeline. Another painful moan and Sigyn scooted further into the growing forest shadows. _

_"__Hello?" Nothing on the horizon looked threatening, no gigantic beast that she could see from her place among the brush which grew no shorter than her head._

_She knew the time to be scared was not then. _**It is a small dog**_, and so while she chastised herself for thinking an animal could speak, Sigyn crept along the treeline closer to where she'd heard it cry._

_The elders always educated that animals could tell your intentions from your tone, so trying to be as soothing as possible; Sigyn called out, "I won't hurt you, whatever you are. Keep making noise."_

_It would be dark soon, and the woods would be black with shadow no moonlight could penetrate when the sun went away. Sigyn kept the stick in her hand, ever fearful of vagrants roaming the woods as they were want to do sometimes. She knew she was only young and small, and if it came to it would scamper into the trees at the first sign of trouble. Unlike many in her village, she would not resort to standing her ground and fighting, for she was no fool to think she could take on anyone._

_Unless it was another young child, like the one she suddenly realized had been making such awful noises. She first saw his silhouette against the large oak tree, hands tied with cord and something hanging into his face from the uppermost branches. She could smell acidity in the air, almost citrus but with a burning sting to it. _

_Whatever hung in the boy's face hissed madly and spit at him to produce another low howl from him._

_Sigyn picked up the stick she had dropped in her jolt of shock. The boy had not seen her yet, and she saw with the last fading rays of sunlight he could not see through the white veins clouding his vision and his lack of pupils._

_The snake was attempting to burn the boy's eyes out with venom. That was enough to put a knot in her chest, but the injury responsible for rendering Sigyn speechless was the erratically woven thread holding his mouth shut._

_Without thinking on her actions and still prone to childish impulse, Sigyn charged at the large serpent and whacked it out of the tree with a stick, "Take that, vile thing!" With the butt end of her makeshift weapon stuck its head into the ground. The bile rose up her throat at the sickening squish it made like stepping into a puddle after a rain. _

_Sigyn fell back after losing her balance, and the stick stayed upright in the soil, having pinned and killed the creature._

_The boy was frozen in shock, then wiggling with renewed fear that there was another who could mean him harm. "Hold on!" Sigyn scrambled towards the back of the tree and untied the cord, releasing the boy like a spring shot from a net once the tension was let._

_Sigyn peered from around the large round trunk. "Can you hear me?"_

_The boy inclined his head, peering over his shoulder with unseeing eyes that still sizzled with burns and poisonous white marks. There was crusted blood around his mouth, and he had put a hand to it. _

_"__I'm not going to hurt you. Can-"_

_His clothes, they had been concealed by the thick ropes before, but now she saw how he was dressed. Fine, thick autumn clothes suited to a prince, gold hem on the green tunic and dark pants along with the cloak, still dirty but not enough to shield the design on its back…_

_"__Oh, no... how did you get so far from Asgard?" She realized her stupidity with his attempt at a withering look in her general direction, his gaze missing her by a few feet, and her eyes looking on his mouth. She went to him, crouched, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. With his finger, he was writing something in the dirt. To her, it was just lines, and then her mind caught up with what he was trying to do. _

_"__I can't read."_

_He acknowledged her with a nod, and pointed to his lips._

_"__Want me to try and get that out?"_

_His nod was quick._

_When she first touched the skin near his mouth, he was startled. she paused to wait for him to get accustomed to her cool skin and then proceeded to do the best she could pulling the thread through his lips and out. They bled anew, and with it came clear fluid and saliva. She cared not for the cleanliness for her hands but kept her eyes open for someone to help- or those who had done this to a little boy._

_She went slow and after a few minutes had removed all of the thread. The small hide flask on her hip had little water but she offered it anyway, "I have some water." Before she could put it in his shaking hand, he moaned in pain as the threads appeared again, by magic._

* * *

_Her voice was soft as a whisper, but Loki knew his senses may have been damaged by the poison which had eroded his vision and ability not to treat every sound as potential danger. Except even as she had shouted from across the glen at the serpent, it brought something more than alarm that another stranger was near._

_Something about her presence struck a familiar note with Loki, his instincts, which he was taught to always trust, spoke well of this honeyed voiced girl. He assumed she had finished the snake because her breathing was rapid and her words quick. Was she injured? Apparently not. She had undone his bindings and he shot forward with the tension he had created in trying to escape, before catching his own breath._

_She spoke still, and as if through fog her words walked closer to invade his mind. _

_He could smell her, a mixed fragrance of crushed leaves and oils. He felt her hand on him and flinched, not realizing that to take away his ability to speak and see had also made him anxious to any contact._

_The girl knew better, obviously, for she withdrew her hand. Her breathing had slowed, and to dull the pain he matched his to her rhythm. _

_She had asked him a question, but he couldn't remember what it had been, her words still hung in his head mixed and confusing. _

_He needed to know her name. He began writing his name in the dirt as best he could when his hopes of communication were forfeit. "I can't read."_

_She sounded as desolate as he felt. _

_Well then he hoped she could at least take simple direction. He pointed to his mouth, painfully sewn closed and even the slightest twinge wreaked havoc on his nerves._

_"__Want me to try and get that out?"_

_He nodded, _**No, by all means leave it in**_. He was pleased he could not cut her down with words just then, for he truly needed help and was not fool enough to act like his prideful brother and decline assistance._

_The girl was smart, and those thoughts entangled him as she attempted to remove the strings. She had observed him and concluded he was from Asgard by the clothes he wore. She was brave, or stupid, to have attacked such a giant creature. Before it poisoned his vision and mind, he had gotten a glimpse of the giant snake, more of a beast really. _

_She had courage, and for a girl was not squirmy around injuries. Loki could only imagine the state his mouth was in. He could feel the blood dripping down his chin and feel the burn on his face from the poison._

_He must look a wreck._

_"__I have some water," She announced after he felt the last tug of thread at the corner of his mouth._

_Before he felt the flask in his hand his world tore open as his mouth was sewn shut again. It was dull compared to the first time they'd done it; Loki's spirits were drowned more than his physical situation because this meant he wouldn't be able to talk until he got home._

_How to communicate he was a prince of Asgard if the girl couldn't read?_

**She is all I have at the moment**_; he had no choice except to trust her._

* * *

None of that he could see in her now. **_She returned completed._**

Loki had aged with Thor and experienced much of the same, molding them into opposites but they still shared most of their memories, choices, dislikes.

Sigyn had left their company too early, and had come back whole enough it was hard for Loki to glimpse something recognizable. Perhaps he couldn't only because he had been torn into too many pieces.

**_This is for the best, _**or else he would dissect her every word, every movement as he did Thor's, no mystery to be left behind.

**_I can only return the favour. She cannot stay here. _**Loki had made up his mind, **_she must return to Alfheim for her own protection_**.

* * *

**A/N: First Thor wanted Sigyn to stay on Alfheim for her own protection, and now Loki. Sigyn can protect herself as you'll see next Friday. **

**G**


	8. Tenth Hour

A/N: Here you go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel. I only play with its characters.

The air of reserve hung around Sigyn like the ends of a spider web, almost there but not quite noticeable if you weren't looking for it. A glitch in your surroundings. Doctor Banner kept his eyes on his work after Sigyn had been observing him from the chair and commented that for such a nice man she would not make him angry by not cooperating as they ran tests.

Cassie was doing a physical and he, reading specific radiation signatures. The charts running across the screen told him her markers fell in line between Thor and Loki's, quite distinctive.

"What are your healing abilities? I've seen Thor take a shot to his torso and barely flinch."

If that were the case he could let out a sigh of relief. If anything were to happen to Sigyn they weren't sure how long response time would be if they all weren't on the Helicarrier. Having Natasha by her side was a comfort although very little- even the Black Widow got injured most of the time. Being a deadly assassin gave no quarter if a bomb went off. Bruce shook himself of those disturbing thoughts and focused on his computer screen, vaguely noting Sigyn was answering his question.

"I am able to heal myself if I concentrate enough. But I am not Asgardian, Doctor. Unlike Thor, if I were to lose consciousness before healing I would most likely die if the wounds were severe enough."

Bruce held off on inquiring further on her grave tone of voice, probably a story behind her warning. It was hard keeping his eyes on her, imagining what growing up with the Odinson brothers was like.

Bruce had met Sif, and Sigyn was nothing like her. in looks or attitude. Sigyn had been sitting there patiently for the past hour as they'd run tests, not bothering with questions. Sif on her first visit to the tower which has been her last, almost tore their heads off when they tried taking a blood sample.

Needles weren't a thing on Asgard apparently.

There Sigyn sat with electrodes monitoring every bodily function and she did not flinch or ask questions about the needles or machinery. Bruce had to wonder if this was her first time on Earth.

Bruce didn't realize he was staring until Sigyn's raised eyebrow at him turned to Cassie, standing on the other side of the room with her own computer screen. "I have never seen results this bizarre."

"I am not normal?"

The dejection and acceptance in her tone clued Bruce in that Sigyn might have suspected it before. What was normal for her race was probably on a wide spectrum like theirs was and differentiated between individuals. "We haven't had a chance to study someone from Alfheim. Asgard and Jotunheim, of course," her words were distracted and Cassie pulled the handheld monitor over to them, showing them the readings. "And the Chitauri…" The hitch in her voice made Bruce send her a warning look.

Bruce didn't care much about readings, watching for the woman's reaction to the information. Sigyn was studying them as if she knew what they said. What Jane Foster had reported, they had some of the same scanners just a different application method.

With a clearing of her throat Cassie continued, "But you're different. Did your parents have any illnesses? You're immune system looks compromised."

Back to looking at the screen, Cassie didn't catch Sigyn's long stare at the wall. Bruce tried reassuring her, "It might look bad to us only because we compare it to our own biology, right Cassie?"

His persuasive inflection sent Cassie into a spiral struggling for an apology, almost stammering. "He's right, yes." Placing the monitor on the desk she rolled her chair over and gestured to Bruce to start taking the electrodes and wires off Sigyn. "Were both your parents from Alfheim?"

"I was an orphan and I was never curious."

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Pepper dogged Tony around the king bed and stopped with him at the mirror. "What if something goes wrong and someone gets hurt?" Her words didn't register until Tony turned away from her reflection and really looked at his girlfriend.

"Pep, she can handle herself." Tony tried not to look smug guessing who she had been worried about. It seemed he hit the mark when she fidgeted with the hem of her blouse.

"If something were to happen," Her careful look flipped to something else before Tony could comment and as usual she chose something else to fret over.

Such as why he was wearing a suit and securing a tie around his neck as if he was going to a board meeting. Which was impossible, she knew, Tony Stark never went to board meetings.

That was _her_ responsibility when Tony felt more like meandering around the Tower fiddling with his ongoing projects. Lately, in he company of Bruce. Those two most nights were inseparable and it had led to some dinner being had in the lab.

Pepper had quickly cut that tradition out when she found a small thousand dollar microchip in her pasta one night.

"She looks like she could fight her way out of anything. Hell, not even Loki argued with her about this, probably the smartest thing he's done in a while." His muttering was cut off by Pepper stepping between his reflection and helping with the pale blue tie.

"Both of them feel they've lost a brother." Her mutter was barely heard and Tony's hand stopped playing around with different watches he couldn't decide on wearing. "And I get the feeling, Tony, that they haven't seen her in a _really_ long time."

Pepper had a soft spot for Thor, his easy nature and conversation in the early mornings was a blessing. He had even helped in negotiations between Stark Industries and their medical suppliers once, by accident, but it was a happy one. Ever since Thor helped rescue Steve and Tony a few months before when they'd gotten into trouble and came all the way from Asgard. Pepper had been warming up to him, Thor was family, and perhaps Loki deserved the same chance.

"I don't want anything to disturb the peace."

Tony said nothing and that was his answer.

Pepper went back over to the bathroom to finish putting in her other earring. If Tony was going to the office she sure as hell would follow. He may be a genius but around the office he could be a disaster. A hand was suddenly on her shoulder, "Hey it's not for another two days until the Helicarrier is in range for JARVIS when it lands in D.C."

As if that was a big reassurance. It should have been. Pepper thought about Loki, right now in the kitchen according to what JARVIS had said. Hearing about Loki just biding his time in the kitchen with Sigyn when something could go wrong had set her worries into a tail spin.

"What's your role? Promise me, Tony, that if anything goes south-"

"That I haul my ass right towards the trouble, I know."

She offered a small smile and followed him into the hall towards the penthouse. Even before they reached the staircase to the kitchen Pepper heard raised voices. Thor's and Sigyns. Where was Loki?

Not there, it was just the two gods with Natasha witnessing their quarrel over a bowl of cheerios looking every bit jet lagged. pepper had noticed that in the Tower, Natasha had been slowly letting her guard down around them.

Pepper offered to make coffee, trying to tune out the voices. If they'd been speaking English then maybe she'd intervene. It was not a language she recognized.

As perceptive as ever, Nat clued her in, "It's Norwegian. I think."

"Do you know what they're saying?" pepper took a seat a the island counter just as Sigyn held up a hand for Thor to stop speaking. What a surprise, he did and let her carry on in the same tone.

"Something about her and a husband. They mentioned Loki about an hour ago but it's dissolved since then."

"Where is Loki?" Pepper craned her neck but he wasn't sitting in the breakfast nook past the dining room table either. He had vanished. "JARVIS said he was here…"

Natasha threw her a look. "He was. Whatever they were saying he didn't like." Pointing out to the balcony attached to that floor, with doors at both ends, alerted pepper to Loki sitting cross-legged in front of the glass railing and Steve as company. Or watch dog, but Pepper didn't like thinking about that.

It looked like they were having a conversation. Pepper didn't like how Loki's shoulders were hunched or the softening look Steve wore. Just days ago Steve was still unsure of Loki but tolerating it.

The shouting vaguely got louder and Pepper decided she couldn't just ignore it. As if a message sent by the universe, Thor said Loki's name amid a string of other words and Pepper marched right over.

Tony looked up from his Stark tablet suddenly interested. Natasha even stopped eating her cereal.

"Thor, Sigyn. If you are going to argue, do it in a language we all understand or go somewhere private." Her gaze was torn between the two on the balcony and the two she had just stepped between.

Thor and Sigyn followed her gaze, taking her hint in stride. Sigyn for her part kept her eyes downcast, "I apologise Miss Potts. For now the discussion is ended." A scathing look to Thor and Sigyn departed into the elevator.

Thor looked too disturbed to say much and took the staircase exit, not even a glance in Loki's direction. Maybe he couldn't bring himself too, Pepper didn't know.

Natasha nodded at her when she sat back down and Tony just open-mouthed stared. "You just told two very powerful gods to go to their rooms."

"Didn't even blink," Nat added.

Pepper hadn't even given their status a thought, or the possibility they'd pummel her into the ground. She had been thinking about Loki and how his persistence at being solitary and acting above any pain he may feel meant he would take the anguish. Mental or physical.

Either way, Pepper wouldn't have that kind of thing in the Tower, not after Loki had endured that and much more in Asgard and at the hands of the Chitauri.

Instead of mentioning this, Pepper shouldered her bag and pulled out her phone. "Tony, I'm going to be late and I think you are too."

Natasha for all of her skills must have then noticed that Tony was devoid of his usual jeans and band shirt, not even covered in grease or have the odour of experimental chemicals. She gave him an appraising eye. "Something I should know about?"

Tony winked, "Just a little talk with Fury, nothing major."

Pepper should have guessed. With one last glance to Loki, "We'll be back later tonight. Any special dinner requests, phone my office? I'm sure you remember the number."

Natasha nodded. "No need to worry, I'll keep an eye on him." With a wink Natasha ventured outside after grabbing the box of cheerios from the cupboard.

Pepper last saw her offer the box to Loki before the elevator doors shut.

"Thor is hiding something."

"Aren't we all?" Tony answered, gesturing to the camera in the elevator for JARVIS to bring them to the lobby.

Tony didn't seem concerned so Pepper was once again the one to make the executive decision to find out what they were hiding from Loki.

* * *

The sun was warm, cut only by the chilly breeze blowing over the balcony. This high over New York, there were no buildings to block the airflow, and the congestion and noise of the city below seemed more of a nuisance than a hinder this high above. Natasha could see why Loki preferred it outside- no claustrophobic walls that might remind him of being locked up.

It made her wonder how long he had been locked inside without any fresh air, or freedom. Too long.

Without saying anything, she stood next to Loki, Steve on the other side and put the box of cereal level with his eyes.

Loki blinked the box into focus and looked up. "Romanoff." he sounded suspicious.

Steve sounded amused. "It's breakfast cereal. Surprised Tony has the heart healthy brand." Steve obviously had a hard time keeping a straight face saying that one.

"Yes Rogers you're hilarious." Turning back to Loki she set the box on the slate floor between them, "You need to eat something other than bread and water."

"I need nothing else." His eyes flicked form the box back to the skyline just above far off buildings blocking their view of the water.

"You can't lie to me."

"Or anyone else apparently." That held some acid in it, but Natasha decided to leave it alone for her own good. Loki was still a powerful god even if he'd been lately deactivated. Truthfully Natasha didn't want to test the range of his ability before he gained her trust.

So far she was gauging the others reactions and moldering her own after that, just to be safe. If she didn't, Natasha knew Loki wouldn't be staring at her with such interest.

He'd be more wary.

"Do any of you have other occupations? I do not need to be watched."

"Be glad we're not forcing you to stay inside." Natasha knew it- by his reaction, the enlarged pupils and silent intake of breath that was exactly why he liked spending hours on the balcony or roof.

She hadn't lost her touch and that came with the ill feeling she always got when she was right about something horrible.

Sometimes she wished she didn't have such an imagination or the experience to put pieces like that together.

Not like Steve, who for all of his intelligence looked confused why Loki should be glad of his captors were at least being humane. He knew first hand not everyone was as nice to prisoners, World War II and all, but he was obviously taken back by her bluntness.

Cassie had briefed Steve the night before on the injuries Loki sustained during his time between then and the alien invasion.

Probably before that, because the Chitauri had to persuade him somehow.

Again, Natasha inwardly grimaced at those images, concocted by her own memories. It was a far cry from what Loki had been involved with, all she could do was imagine and wished she would never find out.

She didn't want to think of Loki as a friend. Ally, for the time being, but sympathy wasn't something she wanted a part of.

"Is this city always loud?"

Even as high as they were, sounds of traffic and pedestrians permeated the air, echoing off the wind.

"Pretty much." Steve shrugged. "It's always been like that." They listened to the sounds of the city for a few more minutes, and with a warm tone Steve asked what Asgard sounded like. What it was like.

Touchy subject but Natasha was also curious so she didn't tell Steve to lay off. The man was probably taking comfort in the fact New York hadn't changed much since his time, still loud and busy. Maybe he wanted to give the same to Loki, trying to get him to remember better times.

"Asgard was nothing like this."

Conversation closed, Loki took the cheerio box and began testing it one by one.

"I didn't poison it," Natasha took a handful, to prove her point.

Steve and Loki watched and waited for her to keel over, or start frothing at the mouth, she wasn't sure. "Really, boys?"

Loki turned to Steve. "If these are harmful she may have built an immunity to the specific poison." He held the box between them, tilted at Steve to tempt him to take some. His words didn't tempt Steve's appetite.

One second and he had popped a handful into his mouth. Steve trusted Natasha to an extent. Outright murdering them in broad daylight and in the Tower no less wasn't her style. Natasha smiled.

"See? Harmless."

"The cereal is, yes." Loki's lips pulled up a little and Natasha stared, dumbfounded.

He was making fun of her. "Well, I never," Her mock offence sent Steve smiling, and they finished the entire box of cereal before Loki spoke.

"Romanoff,"

Natasha forgot he had spoken until a small poke on her knee made her flinch. Loki pulled back immediately and stood up, and without a word dropped the empty box and went inside.

Steve stood to follow but Natasha shook her head, waited until Loki was out of sight and said, "That was my fault, I'll go."

"What happened?" Steve had dozed off, woken when Loki sprang up like he had been shot from a canon.

"Not sure, nothing good." Natasha went to follow.

* * *

**A/N: There you go! I might update before next Friday due to having cut this chapter in half so I may post the rest later. Hope you enjoyed! G**


End file.
